President’s Cup round-up: Al Nasr survive scare to enter last four

Dubai-based Arabian Gulf League club recover from a goal down to beat giant killers Al Dhaid 3-2, reports Ali Khaled.

Leonardo Lima, left, was superb for Al Nasr on Monday night as his goal turned the match in the Dubai club’s favour. Satish Kumar / The National

SHARJAH // Al Nasr became the first club to qualify to the semi-finals of the President’s Cup on Monday night when they defeated Al Dhaid 3-2 at Al Sharjah Stadium, but not before getting a mighty scare from the Division One club.

Dhaid, who had upset the top-flight side Al Shaab in the previous round, got off to a perfect start by taking the lead in farcical manner in the third minute.

A long ball into Nasr’s penalty area had goalkeeper Saoud Saeed back-peddling to his goal line as Pan Koulibaly bore down on him. The goalkeeper slipped, leaving the Burkino Faso striker the easiest of chances to score.

A shock looked on the cards when Al Nasr were frustrated throughout the first half in their efforts to pull level.

The turning point of the match came two minutes into the second half when Dhaid’s Abdullah Mohammed gave away a penalty which Leonardo Lima converted to square the match. With Dhaid down to 10 men, Nasr took control and then the lead, on 53 minutes, when Ibrahima Toure headed from a Brett Holman cross.

The Arabian Gulf League side looked to have settled the tie when Tariq Ahmed’s low drive made it 3-1 with only five minutes left, but Dhaid hit back two minutes later through Omar Al Mansouri’s excellent left-foot drive.

Despite a few uncomfortable minutes, Nasr held on to progress to the next round, but their coach Ivan Jovanovic was far from pleased with performance.

“It was a difficult game for us for sure, and it’s very important that we got to the President’s Cup semi-final,” he said.

“But the performance we gave in the first half was not what we expect from Al Nasr.”

Jovanovic acknowledged that his team has underperformed against teams they are expected to beat in the cup.

“It’s true, when you play a second-division team you have to be very serious,” he added. “We conceded first and were chasing the game, which is a concern for us.”

Dhaid’s assistant coach Ibrahima Traore was proud of the way his team played, especially after the sending off. “I’m very happy with the team. Many people thought we couldn’t come here and score twice but the penalty and the red card changed the match,” he said. “We are proud.”

Al Ahli through after difficult game against Al Wahda

Ciel’s 60th-minute penalty gave Al Ahli their first lead, and a strike by Ismail Al Hammadi in the 80th minute clinched an unexpectedly difficult 4-2 victory over Al Wahda for the President’s Cup holders at Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain on Monday night.

Luis Jimenez and Grafite also scored for the winners. Damian Diaz scored both of Wahda’s goals. After an 11-pass sequence by Wahda, the little Argentine fired home a rocket from 24 metres to grab a 1-0 lead for the Abu Dhabi side. His crisp diagonal goal inside the far post made it 2-1 before half time.

Rogerio stars for Al Dhafra

Jose Rogerio, the Brazilian striker, scored in the second minute of extra time as Al Dhafra scored a shock 1-0 victory over Al Shabab at the Baniyas Stadium.

Rogerio joined Abdullah Misfir’s side only a week ago, but his goal puts Dhafra in the semi-finals and knocks out last year’s losing finalists.