Riyadh: Hosts Saudi Arabia will play Qatar in Wednesday’s Gulf Cup final after beating defending champions UAE 3-2 in Sunday’s semi-final at the King Fahd International Stadium.
Salem Al Dawsari fired home a winner five minutes from time after Ahmad Khalil had scored two second half goals to bring the UAE level.
Saudi went ahead on 19 minutes when Nasser Al Shamrani tapped in Saeed Al Muwallad’s cross. Three minutes later Al Shamrani teed up Nawaf Al Abid for a quick second.
The UAE’s misery was complete before the half hour when star player Omar Abdul Rahman hobbled off injured, replaced by Esmail Al Hammadi.
Khalil headed in Amer Abdul Rahman’s free kick on 54 minutes to pull one back for the UAE. He then slotted home a second from Esmail Matar’s pass on 79 minutes. But Al Dawsari rounded the defence and fired home a winner to deny the Whites.
In Sunday’s earlier semi-final Qatar had come from behind to beat Oman 3-1 at the same venue.
Raed Saleh put the sultanate ahead on 24 minutes but the Maroons equalised through Hassan Khaled’s penalty on the half hour. Second half substitute Ali Assadalla then tapped in two rebounds off the post on the hour and on 67 minutes to secure the win.
Wednesday’s final between Saudi Arabia and Qatar kicks-off at 8.45pm (UAE time). Meanwhile, the third place playoff between the UAE and Oman will be played from 6.45pm (UAE time) on Tuesday.
