Al Nasr 2 Al Nahda 1
Al Nasr won 3-2 on aggregate
Al Nasr Lima 7' (pen), Toure 28' Al Nahda Rashid 33'
Man of the match Brett Holman (Al Nasr)
DUBAI // Al Nasr are one win away from ending their 25-year wait for a trophy after they brushed aside Omani club Al Nahda on Wednesday night to reach the final of the GCC Club Cup Championship.
The Dubai club, whose last piece of silverware was the 1989 President’s Cup, will now meet another Omani club, Saham, for the title on Monday and, fortunately for Ivan Jovanovic’s men, they will be playing at their own Al Maktoum Stadium.
Managing to return home with a 1-1 draw from the first leg of the semi-final in Oman, Nasr won 2-1 at home on Wednesday night to reach the final of the tournament for the first time, with Leonardo Lima and Ibrahima Toure both scoring before the half-hour mark.
Nasr got off to a brisk start and had registered their first goal with just seven minutes on the clock. Toure was blocked by Nasser Al Shimli and Khalifa Ayil as he chested down Mahmoud Khamis’s cross and turned sharply in the area.
The referee pointed to the spot and Lima almost wasted the opportunity from 12 yards, flicking the ball into the Nahda goalkeeper Riyadh Al Alawi before booting home the rebound. The Nasr fans were celebrating a second goal 21 minutes later as Tariq Ahmed played on for Toure and the Senegalese placed the ball beyond the reach of the Nahda keeper.
Nahda pulled one back before the break when Jamal Rashid breached the Nasr defence with a scorching volley in the 33rd minute of play.
The visitors then had a great opportunity to move ahead on away goals when Juma Saeed unleashed a scorching volley from close range, but the Nasr keeper Ahmed Shambih came up with a brilliant stop.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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