Murad Al-Masry (Abu Dhabi)
Al Jazira qualified for the quarter-finals of the His Highness the President of the UAE Football Cup, after defeating Al Arabi 1-0, in the match held at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, at the opening of the round of 16 of the most expensive tournament.
The start of the match was as expected, with Al Jazira taking possession of the ball and Al Arabi resorting to defensive formation and counterattacks.
Al Jazira's Romanian coach, Mirel Radoi, tried to take advantage of those with experience in his first official appearance with the team, as Ali Mabkhout took over the leadership of the attack, while Al Arabi's coach, Fafa Bu Madhal, tried to find the required balance with the presence of Rashid Issa and Vandar Vieira in the midfield.
Al Jazira waited to threaten their opponent's goal, after a strong shot from outside the area by Fernando in the 29th minute. Al Jazira returned to the attack, and Ali Mabkhout passed the ball to Fernando, who shot a strong shot, but goalkeeper Ahmed Hassan blocked it in the 32nd minute, and Al Arabi threatened Al Jazira's goal after a corner kick. Khalifa Al Hammadi almost accidentally turned it into his team's goal in the 36th minute.
Al Jazeera's pressure resulted in Fernando opening the scoring for the first goal, after receiving the ball inside the area, he shot it directly into the Al Arabi net in the 45th+1 minute.
Al-Jazira began the second half with an offensive initiative, but lacked the final touch in front of the goal, despite arriving on more than one opportunity inside Al-Arabi’s penalty area. Al-Arabi’s threat came again from a corner, and this time Al-Jazira’s crossbar blocked Talal Abdel Rahman’s header in the 55th minute, and Alejandro Pozillo shot. A ground ball crawled near the right post of Al-Arabi’s goal in the 64th minute.
Al Jazira goalkeeper Ali Khasif rose to block a perfect shot from outside the area from “substitute” Ladji Mali in the 70th minute, and Rashid Issa shot a free kick over Al Jazira’s goal in the 81st minute.
Goalkeeper Ahmed Hassan saved his Al Arabi team from conceding the second goal, after blocking Omar Traoré's solo shot in the 88th minute.
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