Riyadh: Ali Mabkhout scored his fifth Gulf Cup goal to hand the UAE a 1-0 win over Oman in the third place play-off at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Al Jazira striker drilled a low shot into the bottom left from distance after the hour to strengthen his position at the top of the tournament’s top scorer’s charts.

Only one game now remains – Wednesday’s final between hosts Saudi Arabia and Qatar from 8.45pm (UAE time) — for either Saudi Arabia’s Nasser Al Shamrani and Nawaf Al Abid or Qatar’s Ali Assadalla, both on two goals each, to deny Mabkhout the golden boot with a last gasp hat-trick.

The UAE started with eight changes from their 3-2 semi-final defeat to Saudi Arabia on Sunday while Oman started with six changes from their 3-1 semi-final defeat to Qatar.

Both sides had drawn a blank in their Gulf Cup group opener here at this stadium two weeks ago but the UAE entered the latest game with the upper hand on head-to-head with 10 wins to Oman’s three in 19 previous encounters.

Ali Al Habshi palmed Khamis Esmail’s long shot onto the post after the half hour mark in the best of the UAE’s first half chances.

Oman had threatened early on after Saeed Salim’s header was tipped wide by UAE keeper Khalid Eisa. Rashid Eisa had also taken a pot-shot at Al Habshi but it was well received by the Brighton loanee.

Oman started brightest after the interval when Ahmad Kano struck wide after Raed Saleh’s cross was played back into danger by Ali Al Nahar. Juma Darwish then failed to get anything on a free hit at the back post from Mohammad Al Seyabi’s cross soon after.

The UAE punished the sultanate’s wastefulness before the hour, however, when Mabkhout buried a long shot.

Oman’s Hussain Al Hadri could have equalised with a free header from Darwish’s cross but UAE keeper Eisa pounced to palm the effort wide.

Al Habshi prevented Ahmad Khalil getting another for the UAE and Oman’s Raed Saleh then struck straight at Eisa before Ali Al Jabri hit the side-netting. In the end, Mabkhout’s strike was enough to make the difference.

The UAE will now fly onto the holy city of Makkah for post-tournament prayers before arriving back in Dubai on Wednesday.

Hosts Saudi Arabia will play Qatar in Wednesday’s final at the King Fahd International Stadium. Saudi have won the Gulf Cup on three occasions and finished runners-up five-times while Qatar have won this tournament twice and have come second four times.