Kalba capitalised on their numerical advantage to defeat Al Nasr 2-1 in the Arabian Gulf Cup semi-final first leg at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday.
The home side suffered a massive blow when Mohammed Fawzi was given the marching orders for handling the ball that was fired towards the Nasr net by Peniel Mlapa, who picked himself up to score from the ensuing penalty for a sixth minute lead.
Mlapa turned from scorer to provider when he burst through the right flank before slipping a cross to the unmarked Nasir Abdelhadi to shoot low from the top of the area for the visitors to double the lead on 18 minutes.
Nasr fought back on 38 minutes through their Portuguese midfielder Toze from a penalty awarded for a foul from Kalba defender Sultan Al Suwaidi on Ryan Mendes.
The two sides meet in the second leg on March 2 and Nasr’s Jassim Yaqoob believes it’s a scoreline that still gives them hope of booking their place in the final.
“I think we did pretty well after we had a player sent off only five minutes into the game,” the Nasr midfielder said.
“Losing a player so early in the game and then conceding a goal from a penalty put us under a lot of pressure. Kalba scored a second goal and then we did manage to reduce the lead.
“It’s a scoreline that still gives us a good chance to qualify for the final. Of course we have to go out there and win the return leg, which we are very hopeful we can do.”
Dawood Al Bloushi, the Kalba defender, is hoping they can hang on to the slender lead when they face Nasr at home.
“In football everything is possible but we go into our home match with a slight advantage and hopefully we can hold on to it,” he said.
