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Al Shabab overcome Dhofar 4-0 to qualify for the GCC Championship semifinal

 

Dubai-based Al Shabab secured themselves a berth in the semifinal of the Gulf Clubs Championship following their 4-0 deserved win over Dhofar of Sultanate of Oman in their quarterfinal game played tonight at Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium in Dubai. Essa Obaid netted two goals before the interval and the Omani player Mohammad Rabei and Waleed Abbas added two more goals in the second half.

Al Shabab, champions of the Etisalat Cup this season and leaders of group ''A'' in the Gulf Clubs Championship with 9 points, controlled the game from the very beginning. They made a lot of work on the midfield with the help of their dynamic players Villanueva from Chilli. It took them only seven minutes before they hit the back of the net through Essa Obaid who headed home the long ball switched by Brazilian player Jociel Da Silva. Dhofar's goalkeeper Hani Najm Eldin was the one to be blamed for failing to control Obaid's easy ball that gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. Inspired by this early goal, Al Shabab pressed hard putting more pressure on the visiting team's defence. Their continuous hard fought work was soon paid dividends when Essa Obaid came again to score the second goal in the 17th minute making it 2-0. Both teams went on their attempts creating a number of scoring chances specially the home squad who found some good sitters but failed to add more goals. Dhofar also had some opportunities but the host's defenders stood solid on their way spoiling all their forays to end the first session with a 2-0 lead for Al Shabab. Dhofar missed the efforts of their midfielder Badr Naseeb who was given marching orders after collecting the second yellow card two minutes into the second half. The Omani side played more than 40 minutes with only ten players, a situation which made things difficult for them. They came close to reduce the deficit when Hashim Saleh launched a severe shot that flew over the cross bar only nine minutes after the break. Essa Obaid was almost to score a hat trick, but his perfect header was tipped over the cross bar by the goalie Hani Najm Eldin for a corner in the 61st minute. But the corner resulted in the third goal when the Omani player Mohammad Rabie headed the ball into his own net scoring the third goal for the hosts in the 62nd minute. The visitor's keeper deprived Jociel Da Silva from scoring the 4th goal when he saved bravely the volley sent by the Brazilian fellow off a stand ball three minutes later. The visitors could not threaten their rivals' goal and they looked as if content with the result. But Al Shabab made every bit of work to score as many goals as they can and their continuous attempts yielded the 4th goal when their advanced defender Waleed Abbas sent a strong left footer off a corner kick switched by Villanueva two minutes into the injury time to secure a 4-0 victory for his side.