Dubai: Bin Darwish and hosts Khamis Al Mazeina will meet in the final after both secured penalty shoot-out wins in the semi-finals of the Seventh Maktoum Bin Rashid Football Championship, which will conclude at the Dubai Police Officers Club on Wednesday.
Tied 1-1 at the end of play, Mohammad Mallalah squandered a penalty during the regulation period before Bin Darwish won 6-5 in the shoot-out against Joma. In the earlier semi-final, the Khamis Al Mazeina team went past the Mohammad Bin Ali Team 5-4 with Mohammad Al Bahri bringing off two saves for the hosts in the penalty shoot-out.
The final will be played at 10pm at the Dubai Police Officers Club on Wednesday.
After a barren first half, Bin Darwish took the lead in the very first minute when striker Rashid Jalal tapped into an open goal. Joma had a wonderful opportunity to draw level from the spot but Mohammad Mallalah shot wide. But Eisa Obaid rose to head home in the final minute to send the match into spot-kicks. Mallalah missed from the spot a second time on the night while Mohammad Jamal poked home to ensure a final appearance for Bin Darwish.
Meanwhile, the first semi-final followed the same pattern with Mansour Abbas giving Khamis Al Mazeina the lead in the fifth minute off a Sanad Ali pass. Abdullah Moosa drew level in the seventh minute when he pounced on a rebound from goalkeeper Al Bahri. Both teams had their chances after that, but it remained tied 1-1 at full-time.
In the shoot-out, Al Bahri was the hero saving off Maher Jasem and Rashid Ahmad, and even though Hamdan Mohammad sent his kick wide of the target, the hosts managed to scrape through into the final where they will meet Bin Darwish.
“It was important for us to give ourselves a chance at the title. A penalty shoot-out can be tricky and a lot of luck is needed. I think we were lucky today,” Al Bahri told Gulf News.
“We have won this tournament twice already and last year we ended in third place. We have one more shot at registering a hat-trick,” he added.
Bin Darwish captain Mohammad Qasim was also excited at meeting a strong team like Khamis Al Mazeina in the final. “Tonight was tough and we got lucky somehow. Now we are looking forward to an exciting final,” he said.
“We have one day to recover and we will be there giving it everything on Wednesday with the hope that our experience will see us through as the new champions,” Qasim added.
Results
Semi-finals: Bin Darwish 1 Joma 1
(Bin Darwish win 5-4 on penalties)
Khamis Al Mazeina 1 Mohammad Bin Ali Team 1
(Khamis Al Mazeina win 4-3 on penalties)
Final on Wednesday (10pm): Bin Darwish v Khamis Al Mazeina.
