Al Ain, Al Wasl move into President’s Cup quarters
dubai — Al Ain and Al Wasl punched their tickets to the quarterfinals of the prestigious President’s Cup with wins over Al Dhafra and Bani Yas respectively on Wednesday night.
In a tussle between two Abu Dhabi clubs, Al Ain beat Al Dhafra by a solitary goal, with Swedish international Marcus Berg scoring the winner at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Elsewhere, at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, it was a goalfest with Al Wasl acing First Division side Bani Yas 5-2. Caio Canedo scored a brace in the game which also saw two own goals from Bani Yas.
The Cheetahs were up and away on two minutes with Caio Canedo firing it home from the right following a fast-paced move by the Al Wasl attack.
Bani Yas added further advantage to Al Wasl with Hasan Almuharrami scoring an own goal on 11 minutes. The ball went off the Bani Yas goalkeeper and deflected off Almuharrami’s head and into the net.
All was not lost for Bani Yas and Haboush Saleh brought the Sky Blues back into the game by slotting home in the final seconds of the first half.
But another own goal, this time by Ahmed Alnofeli undid all the hardwork. Caio Canedo sprinted down the right and fired in a cross and Alnofeli, in trying to prevent Fabio de Lima, slid it into his own goal, three minutes after the restart.
Fabio de Lima then got onto to the scoresheet, latching a long ball from the middle, surged ahead, shifted from right to left and sending a brilliant left-footer in.
And although Hamad Al Ahbabi scored for Bani Yas two minutes from time, Caio Canedo rounded it off with the fifth for Al Wasl, and his second of the night, by tapping home Lima’s pass, in the first minute of stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Khalil marked his first outing for Al Ain since joining the Garden City club on loan from Al Jazira, with a fine assist. Khalil fired a brilliant lob on the run and Berg surged into the box before tucking home his leftfooter into the near post.
The other teams to make the cut for the quarterfinal are defending champions Al Wahda, Al Jazira, Al Sharjah, Shabab Al Ahli and Fujairah.
Mahdi Ali’s Shabab Al Ahli beat First Division side Al Oruba by a solitary goal, while Diego Maradona’s Fujairah punched above their weight to beat Arabian Gulf League side Hatta in a five-goal thriller.
Al Jazira, meanwhile, were solitary goal winners against Ittihad Kalba, while Al Wahda came away with a 2-1 win over Emirates.
Meanwhile, Al Sharjah blanked Ajman 2-0.
james@khaleejtimes.com