Al Ain 0-1 Al Nasr
Nasr: Yaqoub 26'
Sent off: Hussain Abbas (Al Nasr)
STORY OF THE MATCH
ABU DHABI // Al Nasr, 2015 winners of the President’s Cup, now stand two matches from a repeat, having put Al Ain to the sword at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday night.
The recent Asian Champions League finalists, runners-up too in the President’s Cup earlier last year, were some way short of their best in this bitty quarter-final, suffering initially from the absence of a half-fit Omar Abdulrahman.
Currently the continent’s player of the year, the Al Ain playmaker was not healthy enough to start, and did not make his entrance until half-time, but by that stage his side were 1-0 down and on their way out.
You see, Jassim Yaqoub had already struck for Nasr. The Nasr forward, a livewire for much of the first half, finished an expert counter-attack from the Dubai club, rushing on to Wanderley’s pass and sending his effort inside Khalid Essa’s near post. There were only 26 minutes on the clock, but it proved the decisive blow.
Al Ain did have their chances, chiefly through Caio, Douglas and substitute Ibrahim Diaky, yet either Nasr goalkeeper Abdullah Ismail stood firm or his rivals in purple could not find the target. Nasr held on, despite manager Dan Petrescu being banished to the stands, and despite defender Hussain Abbas receiving a second booking during injury time. The 2015 winners stride into the semi-finals.
MAN OF THE MATCH — Mubarak Saeed
The accomplished Nasr defender was typically composed and committed, helping keep at bay Al Ain’s attacking line. Marshalled his defence well.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
Zlatko Dalic, Al Ain "Mabrook to Nasr for the victory, and hard luck for my team. It's a big shock for us, but we have to continue to train, continue to play. Tomorrow is a new day. I knew it would be a very difficult game, we play every three or four days, and so my players are tired, but it's football, it happens. We need more players, some local players and someone to finish the chances we create. What can we do now? I can only say congrats to the other team and focus now on the competitions in front of us."
Ali Murad, Al Nasr assistant "We respected Al Ain and their quality, and we played a very good tactical match against the second best team in Asia. The absence of Omar Abdulrahman was very good for us because he is very decisive for Al Ain, but our team did their job. We now think only about the next match and take eveerything step-by-step. The cup is very important for us and we aim to win it ,but the surprises always happen, even from the smallest team."
THE NATIONAL VERDICT
An increasingly tempestuous encounter lacked real quality, although Nasr’s defence deserve significant credit for shutting out their illustrious opponents. Predictably, Al Ain suffered from Abdulrahman’s lack of fitness.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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