Dubai: Al Shabab will play Al Ahli in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup on April 1 after beating Al Wasl 2-0 at home in Monday’s semi-final.
Mohammad Eid put the Hawks ahead before the break while Henrique Luvannor added a second after the hour.
It followed Al Ahli’s 1-0 win away to Al Jazira in Monday’s earlier game, courtesy of a lone goal from Makhete Diop.
First and second in the Arabian Gulf League Al Jazira and Al Wasl have now crashed out of both cup competitions in the space of a week, having also lost 6-0 to Al Wahda and 4-2 to Sharjah in their respective President’s Cup quarter-finals last Wednesday.
Mohammad Eid put Al Shabab in front on 45 minutes after stabbing in a cross from Henrique Luvannor.
Al Wasl’s Serginho had tried to break away from his own area but was intercepted by Tomas de Vicenti who then quickly passed wide to Luvannor on the counter.
Keeper Yousuf Al Zaabi got a hand to Luvannor’s cross but it still trickled into Eid’s path for an easy opener.
It was Eid’s third chance of the match with two earlier opportunities having seen him fumble Nana Poku’s cross, and denied in a one-on-one with Al Zaabi.
Al Wasl, up to that point, had seen a Ronaldo Mendes shot come back off keeper Salem Abdullah prompting a scramble in the follow-up from Fabio de Lima, while Serginho had a shot saved soon after.
Luvannor had a header come back off the underside of the crossbar on the hour following a cross from Manei Mohammad, but he made up for that on 65 minutes when he buried Al Shabab’s second after being found in space on the edge of the area by De Vicenti.
De Vicenti had again profited from another mix up in midfield to break erring Al Wasl on the counter.
Elsewhere on Monday Al Nasr lost 5-0 at home to Hamburg in a friendly. Lewis Holtby got two either side of the break before additional efforts from Finn Porath, Michael Gregoritsch and Aaron Hunt.
