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Ajman and Al Shabab both progress to Etisalat Cup Semi-Finals

Ajman lost 3-1 at home to Al Shabab in the last group game of the Etisalat Cup, held at the Rashid bin Saeed Stadium in Ajman at 8:30pm; a result which sees both sides make it through to the semi-finals, in which they will face each other again. Al Shabab’s win means Al Ain failed to progress, and the other semi-final will see Al Wahda meet Al Jazira.

Al Shabab controlled the first half, and as early as the 5th minute Ajman’s goalkeeper Yousef was called into action; the first of a string of important saves he would make in the opening period. The visitors made their dominance count in the 16th minute when Ciel’s free kick was bundled over the line by Edgar Bruno to make it 1-0, and in the 33rd minute the visitors doubled their lead through Haydarov Azizbek, who collected after Luiz Alves’ shot was blocked and drilled a right-footed strike into the net to put Al Shabab 2-0 up.

Five minutes after the restart, Ajman were awarded a penalty when Founeke Sy was bundled over in the area and the Moroccan Driss Fettouhi stepped up to coolly convert, making it 2-1 in the 51st minute and giving Ajman a lifeline in the game. But there was no comeback on the cards for the home team as Al Shabab regained their two-goal lead in the 72nd minute when Luiz Alves slotted a low shot home from the left-hand side to make it 3-1, and that is how the game ended at full time.

The other 8:30pm kick-off saw Al Ahli host Dibba Al Fujairah at the Rashid Stadium, and the home side came back from a goal down to win 2-1. Dibba Al Fujairah took an early lead through Mohamed Ahmed before the Chilean Luis Jiminez leveled for Al Ahli with a beautiful swerving strike in the 16th minute. Abdulla Ali restored the home side’s lead when he made it 2-1 to Al Ahli in the 67th minute, but the result was obsolete as neither team was able to make it out of Group C.