Al Shabab deservedly dispatch rivals Al Wasl to book Arabian Gulf Cup final date with Al Ahli

Al Shabab players celebrate with Mohammed Ibrahim after his opening goal against Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf Cup semi-final on Monday night. Courtesy Arabian Gulf League

Al Shabab 2-0 Al Wasl

Shabab: Ibrahim 45', Luvannor 65'

Man of the match: Henrique Luvannor (Al Shabab)

DUBAI // Al Shabab won the derby bragging rights and a place in the Arabian Gulf Cup final was theirs.

The Dubai side, the club with the comparatively modest resources but still with much to admire, dispatched rivals Al Wasl in the last-four showdown at the Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium on Monday night, a gutsy 2-0 victory that was both wily and warranted.

Initially Shabab tested the waters against a Wasl team flying high in second in the Arabian Gulf League. Then, they hit hard at the most opportune time, first right at the conclusion of the first half and then not longer after the hour.

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Wasl were stunned, Shabab were struck by the fact a first major UAE final in four years awaits.

“To be in the final is good for this club, good for these players,” said Fred Rutten, the Dutch manager in his first season at Shabab. “Although during the match it was possible that Al Wasl could come to the final and that we could come to the final, in the end it was us and I’m very happy for us.

“You saw there’s a real team on the pitch that wants to win and that attitude was clear from all my players. You get good feelings and I’m proud of my team today.”

Ultimately, Mohammed Ibrahim and Henrique Luvannor did the damage. To begin with, the match was cagey, but it opened up during the final 15 minutes of the first half, eventually encouraging Tomas De Vincenti to exploit space in injury time and play in Luvannor, whose shot was parried into Ibrahim’s path. The Emirati pounced; Shabab snatched the lead.

Their advantage was doubled 20 minutes after the break, when De Vincenti leapt upon some slack play from Wasl’s midfield and sent Luvannor on his way. The Brazilian-Moldovan forward, typically Shabab’s go-to guy, finished calmly past Yousef Al Zaabi in the visiting goal. It was more than Luvannor merited, since he had earlier sent a header against the underside of the Wasl crossbar.

Rutten’s men were two to the good. Suddenly, Wasl’s exit seemed assured. Seven-time UAE champions, they have not lifted domestic silverware in almost a decade and last week were eliminated from the President’s Cup quarter-finals, too. So the wait goes on.

“It’s the result that we didn’t want, but we are professional and tomorrow we have to start thinking of the league,” said Rodolfo Arruabarrena, the Wasl manager. “It’s a hard loss, but for sure we made a few mistakes and so are outside of the final.

“We must carry on in the league. We are top after 13 matches and it depends on our character. We are a professional club, with many fans, and we need to come back from these two negatives for us.”

As for Shabab, winners of this competition only once previously, in 2011, an April 1 date with current AGL champions Al Ahli — another derby — can now be ringed proudly on the calendar. For, finally, a place in a major UAE final is theirs.

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