Al Ain 2 Al Nasr 1
Al Ain Malallah (og) 32', Gyan 86'
Al Nasr Holman 83'
Man of the match Mirel Radoi (Al Ain)
ABU DHABI // Al Nasr’s 25-year wait for a silverware is set to continue as Al Ain beat the Dubai club 2-1 on Thursday night to reach their first President’s Cup final in five years.
Al Ain, who won the last of their five President’s Cup titles in 2008/09, led until the 83rd minute of the game, thanks to an own goal by Rashed Malallah.
And three minutes after Brett Holman equalised for Nasr, Asamoah Gyan came to the fore, heading in the winner to take his team into the final.
Al Ain will now meet defending champions Al Ahli for the title in May, with the match expected to add another chapter to their bitter rivalry. Al Ahli defeated Al Dhafra in the other semi-final, 2-1.
Ahli had knocked them out at the semi-final stage last year and look set to take their Arabian Gulf League title this season.
“I think we played two different halves,” said Quique Sanchez Flores, the Al Ain manager, complaining about the lack of intensity from his team. “In the second half we lost the feeling with the ball and Nasr made full use of it.
“We don’t like defending a lead, so it is an important experience as well. We spent around 40 minutes defending together as a team and that is a positive thing to see. Now we are through to the final and that is very important for the morale of the players.
“We are really happy to have won an important game against a tough team. Now we will be playing another good team and it will be interesting to see what happens.”
Al Ain did make an impressive start, playing like the team of the last two years and creating plenty of chances.
Mohaned Salem should have put the ball into the back of the net in the second minute. Omar Abdulrahman then had an opportunity in the 12th minute when the Nasr goalkeeper Ahmed Shambih punched Mirel Radoi’s effort into his path, but the Emirati took too long on the ball.
Relentless in attack, Al Ain did eventually take the lead in the 32nd minute when the Nasr defender Rashed Malallah slid in to deflect Mohammed Fayez’s cross into his own net.
Nasr looked a lot more positive coming out from the break, but struggled to create any real chances, suggesting their recent goal-scoring woes could be a deeper issue. They had struggled to beat Al Dhaid in the quarter-final of the President’s Cup, and the Dubai club have lost three league matches on the trot, scoring just once.
Seven minutes from time, however, Brett Holman levelled from the edge of the box. Finding the ball at his feet after Khalid Essa had punched away an Eder Luis volley, the Australian blasted home, getting a deflection off Salem on the way.
The parity, however, lasted only three minutes as Gyan, who had struggled to make an impact in the game, rose high over the Nasr defence to head in Ahmed Abdullah’s cross.
“It was a tough game as we expected,” said Ivan Jovanovic, the Nasr manager. “In the first half, Al Ain were better than us, but the second half belonged to my team.
“We played better, had possession and scored the equaliser, but then conceded another goal with three minutes to go. We knew this game would be decided by small details and these details went in Al Ain’s favour tonight.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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