Al Ain clinched the final match card in the President’s Cup after beating Sharjah by three goals to two, yesterday, at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, to “the leader” set his record as the most qualified club in the final match for the 15th time in its history, while the opportunity became clear To equal the number "King" by achieving the title for the eighth time in its history.
Al-Ain needed only one half in order to settle its qualification to the final, after scoring three goals in the first half, and although Sharjah scored two goals, the second half witnessed a significant retreat from the two teams, and the "leader" maintained his progress, and qualified for the final.
The match came exciting from its beginning, after the Hungarian Gojak scored the first goal for Al Ain after two minutes, when Sharjah defender Abdullah Ghanem erred in passing the ball to Gojak, who passed it to Jamal Maarouf, before the latter returned it to the Hungarian, who hit the ball directly into the goal, and the assistant referee calculated it Infiltrated, but after referee Hamad Ali Yusuf used video technology, he declared the goal correct.
On the other hand, Sharjah returned quickly in the match when the Brazilian Luan Pereira led an attack from the left, and he played a cross that Brazil's Marcus Meloni met with a powerful shot in the goal, achieving the first goal of «King» (12).
Although Al Ain dominated the center of the stadium, Sharjah was more organized, as the "King" presented his best period in a few minutes, when he missed two realized opportunities: The first from a ball passed by Cape Verde player Ryan Maidenes to Brazilian Caio Lucas, who was alone in the goal and hit a strong ball that Khaled tackled. Issa (22), while Meloni missed a golden opportunity after receiving a cross, and the Brazilian shot it over the crossbar (25).
The last 15 minutes of the first half witnessed a great excitement from the two teams, when the Kazakh Islam Khan scored the second goal in a wonderful way after he fired a missile ball from outside the penalty area, Adel Al Hosani nets (32), before Ciao added the third goal, after he passed the ball himself Islam Khan, who shot and blocked Adil Al Hosani, and Caio completed it in the net (38), while Brazilian Caio Lucas reduced the score when he received a pass from Ryan Mendes and skillfully fired the ball into the goal (41).
The second half witnessed a regression in the level of the two teams, especially after Al Ain imposed its playing style, as it dominated the course of the game, and pressed the Sharjah players, and the pressure almost added to the addition of the fourth goal, when goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani was wrong in retaining the ball, and kidnapped by Jamal Maarouf, who passed The ball is given to Islam Khan, but the Kazakh ball hit the ball near Al-Qaim (58).
For his part, Sharjah pressed hard in the last 10 minutes, and threatened Al Ain goal with more than one dangerous opportunity by shooting from outside the penalty area, and cross balls, but the "Leader" defense and goalkeeper Khaled Issa contributed to keeping the eye on its progress and winning the match.
Scenes from the game
- Al-Ain struck Sharjah number by scoring three goals in the net during the first half, a number that had never happened to «King» over 68 official meetings for it, as it was the last time that this number of goals were received in front of the unit in the 2017 edition / 2018.
- The Sharjah player, the Brazilian Caillou, scored for the second time in a row against his former team Al Ain, as he scored a goal in the two teams' league match that ended in a 1/1 draw.
- Referee Hamad Ali Yusuf used video technology only once in the match, during the first goal scored by Gojak after only two minutes, as the first referee assistant Zayed Dawood indicated that there was infiltration.
- The match witnessed two prominent shots: the first was the loss of the Brazilian Millini, an opportunity who is completely alone with Al Ain goal, and immediately after, Al Ain player Islam Khan scored the second goal in a great way and with a shot from a distance.
There is an opportunity for the Al Ain team to equal Sharjah titles in the cup.