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Al Wahda and Bani Yas eliminate Al Wasl and Al Ain and qualify to the semifinal

 

Al Wahda dashed Al Wasl and their Argentinean coach Diego Maradona's hopes and eliminated them from the President's Cup Competition after defeating them 3-2 in the quarterfinal stage match held this evening at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Al Qattara. The winners are to face Bani Yas in the semifinal phase who also eliminated Al Ain with a solitary goal in their game played tonight at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The losers, Al Wasl, tightened their grip on the match from the very beginning and their player Donda came close to open the square only four minutes into play but his severe shot hit the cross bar before Al Wahda's defenders cleared the ball away. Al Wasl players repeated their attempts every now and then with all the hope to score an early goal but their rivals' defenders and their goalkeeper Motaz Abdullah stood solid on their way and spoiled all their work.

Al Wahda recovered afterwards making two attempts via Khalid Jalal and Hamdan Al Kamali in the 15th and 28th minutes but they failed to find the back of the net. The two teams demonstrated a balanced performance creating a number of chances but could not score. Dubai-based Al Wasl squandered two successive sitters in three minutes before the break through Rashid Essa and Donda whose volley rebounded off the upright in the last minute of the first session which ended with a goalless draw.

Both squads played better in the second half and their players became more enthusiastic especially when Oliveira netted the first goal of the match after only four minutes with a perfect header. But Al Wasl's joy was soon came to an end when Brazilian Bayano leveled the score also with a nice header three minutes later and his teammate Mohammad Al Shaiba headed home the second in the 73rd minute. Al Wahda looked the better and dangerous side giving their opponents hard time. Bayano sealed the result for Al Wahda when he scored the third goal in the 89th minute before Al Wasl's pro.Oliveira reduced the deficit to end the encounter with a 3-2 win for Al Wahda.

In the second match of the day, Bani Yas made it successfully to the next stage after beating Al Ain with a lone goal that netted by Senegalese Sengahoor in the 104th minute of the extra time.