Al Shabab outplay Al Jazira to reach final

Poor defending and some bad refereeing helped Al Shabab trounce Al Jazira 4-0 yesterday to reach the final of Etisalat Cup as they look to defend the title they won for the first time last year. A vulnerable defence helped the visitors to press the home team from the start and it was only a matter of time before the reigning champions took the lead. They did so in the third minute when Ciel took a corner that flew over the defenders and goalkeeper Ali Khaseef, who must shoulder a lot of blame, to Carlos Villanueva who headed home. Referee Hamad Al Shaikh awarded the visitors a penalty in the 28th minute for a harsh handball against Abdul Rahim Juma. Ciel was on hand to covert. Second penalty Al Shaikh awarded Al Shabab a second controversial penalty when Kieza, who was clearly offside, was fouled by Juma Abdullah outside the box. Abdullah was sent off and Ciel added the third in the 39th minute. Al Shaikh made another wrong decision when he disallowed a Bare goal in the 45th minute for offside. As a result, instead of the first half finishing 2-1 to Al Shabab, it ended 3-0 with Al Jazira down to ten men. In the second half, the home team admirably tried to turn the game around but struggled to make an impact. Their technical staff made things worse by pulling off striker Bare and replacing him with defender Saleh Bashir. As a result, Ricardo Oliveira was left alone among four defenders with little hope of getting a sight of goal. It was a credit to Al Jazira that Al Shabab added only one more goal in the 80th minute, Adil Abdullah netting from a free kick. Brazilian Caio Junior, the new Al Jazira coach, got his first taste of UAE football yesterday, and it was bitter.