Al Ain set-up final meeting with Shabab Al Ahli in Pro League Cup

Garden City club through courtesy of away-goals rule against Al Jazira

Thomas Olsen, right, scored twice in Shabab Al Ahli’s 3-1 win over Al Wahda in the Pro League Cup second-leg semi-final at Al Nahyan stadium on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. PLC

Al Ain booked their place in the Pro League Cup final thanks to the away-goals rule after a 0-0 draw with Al Jazira in the second-leg semi-final at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.

Serhiy Rebrov’s men drew the opening leg 1-1 and they hung on to that away-goal advantage to set-up a final against Shabab Al Ahli, who outclassed Al Wahda 4-1 on aggregate.

Jonatas Santos had two excellent chances to put Al Ain in front in the first half but the 20-year-old Brazilian failed to hit the target with either.

First, Soufiane Rahimi set him up inside the six-yard box but Santos fired it wide of the left post. Then Saeed Juma split the Jazira defence to put Santos through one-on-one with goalkeeper Ali Khasief, but again the forward sent the opportunity wide.

In the early game, Thomas Olsen struck twice in Shabab Al Ahli’s 3-1 win over Wahda at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, meaning the five-time Pro League champions reached their fourth consecutive final and seventh overall.

The visitors took the lead when Gustavo De Oliveira picked up the ball inside the area and launched a strike into the bottom right corner of the net in the 25th minute.

Olsen scored from the penalty spot seven minutes later and the Norwegian found the back of the net again just before half-time, picking up a Abdalla Ali Hassan pass before curling home.

The hosts pulled a goal back in the 62nd minute with a penalty of their own through Mansour Al Menhali but that was as close Wahda got to dragging themselves back into the tie.