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Former Liverpool and Stoke City midfielder Oussama Assaidi and UAE international Ahmed Khalil were on target as Al Ahli marched to their third consecutive President’s Cup final.
Assaidi and Khalil scored on 40 and 85 minutes as the Red Knights blanked Al Dhafra 2-0 in the semifinal at the Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium in faraway Al Dhafra on Saturday night.
Al Ahli are now just a step away from adding a record ninth President’s Cup. They will take on Al Nasr in the final at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Wednesday night.
As far as head-to-head went this season, there was nothing to choose between the two sides. They had played a 2-2 stalemate in Al Dhafra’s home fixture in the Arabian Gulf League last October. Al Dhafra then went on to defeat Al Ahli 2-1 in the Arabian Gulf Cup last November but the Red Knights won the return League fixture by a solitary goal in March.
Al Ahli, buoyed by the AFC Champions League showing against Al Ain earlier in the week, controlled proceedings in the first half.
Khalil, who scored a brace in that game, had twin chances to give the Red Knights the lead but his first attempt took a deflection off a defender and went out, while the other effort was well saved by goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan, who dived to his right to keep away the low shot.
A little later, Ismail Al Hammadi’s volley on the run went over the cross bar.
Al Dhafra threatened just after the half-hour through veteran Abdulraheem Jumaa but the former Al Wahda midfielder’s power packed shot from the right, whizzed over the cross bar.
Al Ahli had a fine opportunity after Oussama Assaidi crossed from the right, but Abdulla Sultan pushed away Khalil’s header.
But with five minutes left in the half, Assaidi broke the deadlock with a fine effort. The Moroccan international pounced on a long ball from Luis Antonio Jimenez from the middle and took a few steps in before hoodwinking defender Ahmed Sulaiman Ali Obaid and firing it into the left corner of the net.
A second was there for the taking three minutes later when Ismail Al Hammadi passed from the right and Khalil made his way in with a defender in pursuit. Sultan came rushing out of his post and Khalil cleverly slipped it past him but it went past the far post.
Al Dhafra tried to string together attacks in the second half in an effort to find the equaliser but Al Ahli put more bodies behind and were content on waiting for a counter.
Al Ahli could have got a second on 74 minutes when Khalil slipped one past defender Khalil Al Ali on the right to Ismail Al Hammadi. Al Hammadi made his way in and tried to chip one to his unmarked captain Luis Antonio Jimenez on the left. But Sultan just about managed to deflect it away before it was cleared by the defence.
They were not to be denied though as Khalil got the second with five minutes left on the clock. Habib Al Fardan headed a goal kick into Khalil’s path and the striker went in before firing it past Sultan and into the far corner of the net.
Al Ahli should have been down to 10 men for the remainder of the game after Abdulaziz Haikal stuck his boot into the calf of Ibrahim Saeed Masoud. But the UAE international managed to get away with just a yellow card.
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