Al Wasl overcame its guest Kalba by defeating them 4-3 on penalties in the Round of 16 of the President’s Cup, after the original time of the match ended with the two teams drawing 2-2.
Al Wasl started the match with the following lineup: Dinko Horkas in goal, and in defence Soufiane Bouftini, Sasa Ivkovic, Hugo Neto, and Pedro Malheiro. In midfield, Renato Tapia, Serginho, Cameron Puertas, Nicolas Gimenez, and Leandro Spadacio, while Mehdi Taremi led the attack.
Al Wasl started the match with attacking pressure, and the first attempts came through Mehdi Taremi in the 13th minute with a ball that the goalkeeper caught. In the 24th minute, Mehdi Taremi passed a ball to Leonardo Spadacio, who was unable to follow it up.
Al Wasl’s pressure resulted in the opening goal for Al Wasl in the sixth minute of stoppage time, through Nicolas Gimenez.
In the second half, Carlos Filho equalized for Kalba in the 52nd minute.
Al Wasl’s head coach, Roy Vitoria, made substitutions, bringing on Fabio Lima and Ridwan Popoola as replacements for Leandro Spadacio and Renato Tapia. Adryelson Silva and Renato Junior came on in place of Sasa Ivkovic and Nicolas Gimenez. Mehdi Taremi and Hugo Neto also came off, with Brahian Palacios and Matheus Saldanha coming on.
Al Wasl’s attacks on Kalba’s goal continued, and the most dangerous came through Serginho in the 80th minute, when he took a powerful shot that Kalba goalkeeper Sultan Al Menhadri cleared with difficulty. Mehdi Taremi then tried nine minutes later with a powerful shot that the Kalba goalkeeper cleared.
The original time of the match ended in a one-goal draw for each team, and the two teams resorted to extra time. Kalba took the lead in the 101st minute through its player Marwan Al Watani, and Sufian Bouftini brought Al Wasl back into the match with a wonderful header in the 111th minute, following a precise cross from Serginho.
The two teams then resorted to penalty kicks, in which Al Wasl goalkeeper Dinko Horkas excelled by saving two kicks, granting Al Wasl a place in the quarter-finals.