DUBAI // All’s well that ends well. At least, that is what Ibrahima Toure must be telling himself after leading Al Nasr to victory over defending champions Al Ain in the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup on Saturday night.
The Senegalese striker missed two simple chances in the opening minutes of the match and the home fans were screaming their displeasure.
But with a minute to play, Toure made amends, sneaking in from the right to receive Pablo Hernandez’s ball and bunt it past the man who had frustrated him all night, Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa.
“For a striker, it is very important to get into positions to score,” said Ivan Jovanovic, the Nasr coach.
“He missed some great chances earlier, but when it mattered the most, he was in the right position to score, at the right moment and take us into the semi-final.”
Nasr made it to the semis of the President’s Cup last year but lost 2-1 to Al Ain.
Toure’s troubles had started in the 8th minute when, with only the Al Ain goalkeeper to beat, he shot straight into him.
The second highest goalscorer in the Arabian Gulf League this season behind Al Jazira’s Mirko Vucinic, Toure had wasted an opportunity a minute earlier as well after Mahmoud Khamis had put a long ball into the box for him.
The Senegalese tried to side-volley on the first attempt, but Essa showed good anticipation and managed to push the ball back.
Toure then tried to put the rebound back, but the goalkeeper showed great reflexes again, deflecting the ball back into play off the post. The frustrated Nasr striker then dragged the ball wide on his third attempt.
A minute from time, though, he made his shot count.
“Congrats to Al Nasr,” said Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach. “We have lost and we need to focus on the Asian Champions League now. We cannot consider this as a tragedy, but instead put this result behind us and start working for the next match.”
Nasr will next meet Al Shabab, who edged Baniyas 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 result after 120 minutes, with both goals coming late in regulation time.
Al Ahli are also through to the last four of the President’s Cup, scoring two in extra time to down Division One club Dubai 5-3.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
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