Al Wahda and Al Ain players fighting it out during the Arabian Gulf Cup quarterfinal.
Abu Dhabi - The match exploded into life in the final 20 minutes
Published: Fri 29 Dec 2017, 9:26 PM
Updated: Fri 29 Dec 2017, 11:30 PM
Nine-man Al Wahda came away from Hazza bin Zayed Stadium with a valuable 2-1 victory over rivals Al Ain in the first leg of the Arabian Gulf Cup quarterfinal.
Ahmed Al Farsi's effort from the edge of the penalty box came agonizingly close in the dying minutes of the opening half, but crept just wide of Al Wahda's goal. The highlight of an otherwise uneventful first half was the dismissal of the Clarets defender Ahmed Rashid in the 42nd minute after back-to-back challenges on Douglas saw him receive two yellow cards in one minute.
The match exploded into life in the final 20 minutes, as Al Wahda took the lead through Sebastian Tagliabue. Midfielder Ahmed Al Akberi received a cross from Balazs Dzsudzsak inside Al Ain's box and laid off the ball for the Argentine who applied the finish first-time into the back of the net.
Al Wahda's Ismail Matar replaced Mohamed Al Abdullah with ten minutes on the clock, and the skipper's involvement in the clash lasted less than a minute after he received his marching orders following an altercation with the referee. Sultan Al Ghafri brought down Markus Berg inside the penalty box and the referee pointed to the spot, but Matar protested the decision leading to his immediate dismissal.
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