Abu Dhabi: Senegalese striker Makhete Diop finally scored after missing half a dozen chances to send Al Dhafra through to the semi-finals of the President’s Cup with a 2-0 win over Ajman at Hamdan Bin Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
The tally for Al Dhafra was completed with an injury time goal by Abdul Rahim Hussain. They now meet Al Ahli, who won a humdinger against Dubai Club, 5-3 in extra-time, on Saturday.
The first half undoubtedly belonged to Al Dhafra; they did everything but score. In the 11th minute, a free-kick from their Iraqi recruit Humam Tareq Faraj brushed the head of Ajman’s Mansour Mohammad and hit the post.
It was also a 45 minutes to forget for Diop, who missed a series of opportunities. A lot of credit should also go to Ajman goalkeeper Mutaz Abdullah, who somehow kept his side in the game with an array of saves.
Diop had a great chance to put Dhafra in the lead in 37th minute but despite having an open goal and all the time in the world, couldn’t convert.
Minutes later, another opportunity went in vain after Faraj’s measured cross found Diop unmarked but the latter, despite doing well to control the ball, failed to beat Abdullah.
Immediately after that, a header from Diop off a corner flew over the crossbar. Then again in the injury time, Diop had Abdullah at his mercy after drawing him out of the box. However, again the striker was guilty of delaying his shot and that allowed Ajman defenders to fall back and the end result was another block and another wasted opportunity.
In the 54th minute, Faraj took the onus on himself to get the breakthrough and made a defence splitting run, but he too found Abdullah in his way.
Finally, in the 62nd minute, Diop got his act together and much to the relief of his team and fans, the breakthrough came.
Timing his jump to perfection, Diop headed home another pinpoint cross from Faraj.
Thereafter, it was all about holding on to that slender lead and with Ajman pressing for the equaliser.
Al Dhafra managed to seal things with an injury time strike, Hussain slotting the ball home after a chip from Diop rebounded after hitting the crossbar.
