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Al Shabab beat Bani Yas 3-1 to qualify to the semifinal of the Etisalat Cup

Dubai- based Al Shabab have qualified to join their city team Al Ahli  to the last four of the Etisalat Cup Championship following their deserved 3-1 over Bani Yas in the last match of the group stage played this evening on the losers' pitch in Al Shamkha. Al Shabab raised their tally to 20 points the same that of Al Ahli who defeated Ajman 2-0 to stay on top of the second group after beating Al Shabab in their head-to-head matches, winning 3-1 in round 3 and 2-1 in round 8.

The two teams, Bani Yas and Al Shabab, made some good attempts from the start of the game trying to score an early goal. Bani Yas were almost to open the score in the 15th minute when Fareed Ismail crossed the ball from the left flank, but AL Shabab defender Essa Mohammad cleared the ball from inside the six yard area for a corner.     

The players went on their attempts but they could not create any dangerous attacks, and at the same time failed to produce a convincing performance as most of the work was concentrated on the midfield zone.

Fareed Ismail was the first to find the target in the 38th minute when he was put clear by Nawaf Mubarak's perfect pass. Fareed collected the ball, ran down the left flank and he did it hesitate to drive it into the empty net when AL Shabab goalkeeper Ismail Rabei advanced to spoil the attempt but he couldn’t.

AL Shabab tried to come back to the game and level the score while Bani yas went on looking for the second goal, but things remained unchanged till the end of the first session.  

The winners continued their pressure on the hosts' defense and their efforts were soon paid dividends when Brazilian striker Ciel sent a strong left footer for defender Thamir Mohammad to deflect into his own net making it 1-1 in the 57th minute.

Ciel came close to add the second goal in the 62nd minute when he received a lovely pass from Dawood Mohammad, but his shot passed just close to the upright. 

Al Shabab finished the game with ten players after their player Mahmoud Jasim was shown the red card five minutes to the final whistle. 

At the time the match was heading to a 1-1 draw, Brazilian Kieza netted the second goal for Al Shabab one minute into injury time. His countryman Ciel launched a strong left footer that rebounded off the goalkeeper for Kieza to send it back into the net and Naser Masoud made it 3-1 two minutes later to secure a berth to his side in the upcoming phase.

On the other hand Al Ahli beat Ajman 2-0 in the game held at Rashid Stadium to raise their balance to 20 points to sit on top of the ladder while the losers concluded their participation collecting 13 points in 4th position of the second group. Al Nasr also overcame Sharjah with the same margin to stay in 5th place with 12 points while Sharjah are at the bottom of the table with only 3 points.

Al Jazira will face Al Shabab while Al Ahli will take on the team who will take second spot in the first group which is confined to Al Wasl, Al Ain or Dubai. The two semifinal matches are due to kick off on March 11.