Dubai: Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club coach Mahdi Ali hopes an extended run in the cup will revive his side’s league fortunes after reaching the semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate win over Hatta on Thursday.
The Al Ghusais outfit, who were only formed from a merger between Al Shabab, Al Ahli and Dubai Club last summer, are sixth in the Arabian Gulf League after having only won once in their last 12 league matches.
However, according to Ali, they will now be boosted by their 2-1 win at home to Hatta in the Arabian Gulf Cup quarter-finals second leg, which followed December’s 3-0 away win in the first leg.
Goals from Makhete Diop and Ante Erceg on 50 and 83 minutes were interrupted only by Ahmad Khamis on 53 minutes for the latest cup win.
“I hope that this can be a start for us in upcoming league games,” said Ali, whose side next plays second-placed Al Wahda away in the league next week.
“Wins make wins and when you win it gives you confidence. I’m also happy with the comeback of Makhete Diop and Majed Hassan, especially Diop who scored and made an assist,” he added of the Senegalese striker who has been out injured for two months.
“The team had been doing everything but scoring until Diop came back. This is a gift for our team and now we hope he will give us more confidence ahead of the Al Wahda match.
“I wished we could have had a full team today but Walid Abbas and Khamis Esmail both got injured in training the day before and it was best to rest them, but of course when the whole team is back, it will give us even more of an advantage because I will have all the options available to me.”
Given that Shabab Ahli are 18 points behind league leaders Al Ain with just six games remaining, the league is beyond them, but a late resurgence would help them gain consistency ready for them to salvage their season with a possible cup win.
“We don’t want to follow this win with draws and losses, we want to regain some consistency and this will give us confidence to come back in the cup. We need to win a trophy this year to give this new team confidence for next season, and we only have two chances to do that this season in the Arabian Gulf Cup and the President’s Cup,” he added of his side who also play Sharjah in the President’s Cup quarters on April 12.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Al Jazira crashed out of the Arabian Gulf Cup quarters with a 1-0 second leg loss at home to Dibba courtesy of a seventh minute winner from Yaseen Al Bakhit. It followed December’s first leg 3-1 home win for Dibba to make it 4-1 on aggregate.
