Ittihad Kalba advanced to the quarter final of the Arabian Gulf Cup after drawing 1-1 with Al Jazira in the second leg of the playoff round at Mohammad bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday.
Kalba entered the game on the back of their 2-1 advantage in the first leg at home. They conceded a goal right before the break but were able to equalize after halftime to book their spot in the next round with a 3-2 aggregate score.
Kalba failed to capitalize on a defensive error from Al Jazira in the 13th minute as the ball fell to unmarked Ahmed Jshak inside the box, however, the forward missed the target before the ball was diverted into a corner by Al Jazira’s Milos Kosanovic.
Jshak missed another golden chance to hand Kalba the lead as he received a long pass and dribbled past the keeper before hitting the woodwork.
The guests continued to pile the pressure in search of an opening goal as Wanderson Oliveira’s header sailed wide just before the half-hour mark. They finally found the back of the net around a minute later, but Omar Alkhadim’s effort was ruled out for an offside.
Wanderson tried his luck once again before the break as his long-range effort rattled off the bar, before Abdulsalam Mohamed forced Al Jazira keeper Abdulrahman Al Ameri into a fine save.
Against the run of the play, Al Jazira snatched a goal just before the break. Bruno de Oliveira capitalized on a mistake from Kalba defender Gabriel Santini and tapped the ball past keeper Yousif Al Zaabi to hand his side a 1-0 lead ahead of halftime.
Jshak’s efforts finally paid off as he levelled the scoreline just after the one-hour mark. After exchanging the ball with Wanderson, Jshak slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of Al Ameri’s net.
Davide Mariani almost made it 2-1 for Kalba three minutes from time but his effort sailed wide to wrap up the action at Mohammad bin Zayed Stadium.
After eliminating Al Jazira, Kalba advance to the quarter final, where they will clash with Bani Yas, who eliminated Hatta earlier on Thursday.
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