Al Ahli moved a step closer to winning a record ninth President’s Cup after a clinical 2-0 victory away at Al Dhafra in Saturday’s night’s semi-final at the Hamdan bin Zayed stadium.
Oussama Assaidi, the Moroccan international, put them ahead five minutes from the break, and UAE striker Ahmed Khalil doubled the lead five minutes from time in a game they controlled for much of the 90 minutes.
Ahli and Sharjah hold the record for the most President’s Cup titles, with each winning it eight times. It is also the Dubai club’s third successive final, having won the title in 2013 before losing to Al Ain last year.
“After a very disappointing league campaign, all we wanted was to reach the cup final. We are in the final and now want to win it,” said Habib Fardan, the Ahli midfielder.
“We had a few issues at the beginning of the season, but that is behind us. Our game improved tremendously in the latter half of the season, particularly in the cup and the Asian Champions League (ACL).
“We still have the final to play and the ACL last-eight stage to look forward to. So there is a lot of work ahead. Obviously we are now looking forward to round off the season with a trophy.”
Ahli have been on a roll in recent games, having beaten Al Ain on away goals to reach the quarter-finals in the ACL.
They face Al Nasr in the President’s Cup final on Wednesday at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Ahli had the better of the early exchanges. Khalil, who scored twice against Al Ain, had a few unsuccessful attempts at the Dhafra goal.
His first shot at goal ricocheted off a defender and the other, a low effort from the edge of the box, was well held by Dhafra keeper Abdullah Sultan diving to his right.
Sultan later did well to block a close-range header from Khalil on a lofted cross from Ismail Al Hammadi.
Ahli scored both goals from counter-attacks despite being the more creative and offensive side throughout the game.
Assaidi collected a long pass and took play inside the area before sidestepping Dhafra defender Ahmed Sulaiman to send a vicious right-footed shot inside the post to give Ahli the lead five minutes before half time.
With Dhafra chasing the game late on, Fardan sent a headed goal-line clearance from Ahli keeper Majed Naser towards Khalil’s path, who took the ball inside the area before unleashing a powerful shot that crashed inside the far post.
apassela@thenational.ae
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