Barrada breaks Hatta hearts as Al Nasr enter final

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Barrada breaks Hatta hearts as Al Nasr enter final
Al Nasr's Salil Saleh and Hatta's Nikolai Stanley and goalkeeper Obid Raihan vie for the ball. (Photo by Shihab)

Dubai - Al Nasr had lost to Hatta twice in the League this season and Dan Petrescu's men finally made amends

By James Jose

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Published: Thu 20 Apr 2017, 11:20 PM

Last updated: Fri 21 Apr 2017, 1:25 AM

Al Nasr finally avenged their twin defeats to Hatta, but more importantly, their solitary goal win against the newcomers, put the Blue Wave through to the final of the President's Cup.
Moroccan playmaker Abdelaziz Barrada's crisp strike with 19 minutes left on the clock, turned out to be the match-winner, at the Zabeel Stadium on Thursday night.
Al Nasr had lost to Hatta twice in the League this season and Dan Petrescu's men finally made amends.
Meanwhile, for Hatta, it put an end to a fairytale run for the debutants, in the UAE top flight.
Al Nasr will be aiming for a second President's Cup title in three years and an overall fifth when they take on Al Wahda in the final, most likely on May 18.
"Hard luck to Hatta. Congrats to our players," Al Nasr assistant coach Ali Murad said. Murad addressed the post-match press briefing after Petrescu was banished to the stands by the referee, at the fag end of the game.
"It was a 50-50 game. Hatta were not an easy team. They were strong on the field but we had strong and experienced players. We were not at our best level in the match but we clicked as a group," he added.
Meanwhile Hatta coach Gjoko Hadzievski was left disappointed. "I'm disappointed. We did everything well to get to the semifinal and we were against a big club like Al Nasr. If you are counting chances, this game was 50-50 or we had more chances," said Hadzievski.
"The players showed good fighting spirit against a big team like Nasr. They had made good progress from the start of the championship. But it was a beautiful goal from a chance from (Abdelaziz) Barrada and I wish Al Nasr all the best for the final," added the Macedonian.
With a spot in the final at stake, both teams, not surprisingly, played it safe by not going all out in attack. And that meant some rather tepid football right through the game.
And there was not much to choose between the two sides as Al Nasr and Hatta tested each others' defence. But they were pretty much nothing spectacular to write home about.
Al Nasr won back-to-back corners on 23 minutes and came close to getting ahead on the second one but were denied by the woodwork. Mahmoud Khamis again curled one in but Masoud Sulaiman's header hit the near post.
Hatta had a chance on 28 minutes but Samuel Rosa's grounder was collected by diving Ahmed Shambih after Abdulla Almulla had delivered one from the right.
Rosa missed another opportunity on 39 minutes with Brazilian striker heading just wide of the post following Badir Almaeeni's freekick from the right.
Al Nasr threatened in added time in the first half through Mahmoud Khamis. But his left-footed freekick from the edge of the box was punched away by Hatta shot stopper Obid Raihan.
The Blue Wave began the second half promisingly with a foray first up, three minutes on restart. Salem Saleh shot from top of the box and Obid Raihan anticipated it a fraction early and went the wrong way. Luckily, for him and Hatta, his boots saved what would have been a sure shot goal.
Al Nasr kept pressing with Jires Kembo-Ekoko, back from an injury lay-off, seeing his attempt collected safely by Obid Raihan.
And just on the hour, Abdelaziz Barrada freekick from the left, sailed over the cross bar.
Hatta too came close through Mahmoud Albalooshi but his threatening freekick was saved by Ahmed Shambih on 67 minutes. The freekick came about after Khalfia Mubarak brought down Rosa.
The deadlock was finally broken on 71 minutes and it took a moment of brilliance from Abdelaziz Barrada. Put through nicely by Mahmoud Khamis, Barrada's crisply sent it home. The goal had class written all over it.
james@khaleejtimes.com
 


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