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Al Wasl and Al Shabab qualify to semifinals

Both Dubai-based teams Al Wasl and Al Shabab have qualified to the semifinals stage of the Etisalat Cup after adding one point and three points to their tally respectively in their matches played this evening in week 9 at their rivals' pitches to stay at the top of group "B". The two squads secured themselves a berth in the golden square irrespective of the outcome of their last matches. They will play their concluding matches of the preliminary stage at home when Al Wasl face Sharjah and Al Shabab meet Al jazira.

 Al Wasl forced the home team Al Jazira to a1-1 draw to go back to Dubai with a valuable point that helped them to keep their leadership of the group, while Al Shabab got the better of their hosts Kalba beating them 2-0 to take 2nd position, only one point behind Al Wasl. Brazilian Siyao scored both goals of Al Shabab in the 80th and 84th minutes. Al Jazira finished the competition second from the bottom with 10 points while Kalba took 3rd place with 11 points.

Al Wasl's defender Yasir Salim scored into his own net to give the home team Al Jazira the lead only 17 minutes into the game. The two teams failed to score before the break to end the first session with a 1-0 win for Al jazira. Mohammed Al Shaiba of Al Wasl was shown the red card in the 72nd minute and Al Jazira's defender Juma'a Abdullah was also given marching orders for both teams to finish the game with ten players. Al Wasl's player Francisco Yeste from Spain leveled the score when he drove the ball home off a penalty five minutes to time to end the match with a 1-1result.

In the third match of the day, Sharjah and Al Ahli were tied to a goalless draw in the encounter played at the formers' ground. Sharjah raised their tally to 11 points to remain out of contention along with their rivals Al Ahli who are classified at the bottom of the ladder with only six points.