AFC Champions League Two: Penalty shootout win takes Sharjah through

#ACLTwo | QF, 2nd Leg: Sharjah FC (UAE) 1-1 AET (2-2 AGG; 5-4 PSO) Shabab Al Ahli (UAE) — AFC Champions League Two
Penalty shootout win takes Sharjah through
Thu, 13 March, 2025

Sharjah: Sharjah FC advanced into the AFC Champions League Two™ 2024/25 semi-finals after defeating Shabab Al Ahli 5-4 on penalties after their quarter-final second leg tie ended 1-1 on the night after extra time and 2-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper Adel Alhosani was the hero for Sharjah after he saved Kauan Santos’ penalty with the UAE side to face Saudi Arabia’s Al Taawoun FC in the semi-finals.

Shabab thought they had taken the lead in the third minute after Sardar Azmoun threaded a through ball for Mateusao, who slipped it past Sharjah keeper Adel Alhosani and into the net, only for the goal to be ruled offside.

Shabab came knocking again four minutes later when Azmoun dinked a clever pass into the path of Mateusao, but Alhosani produced a save from point blank range to deny the Brazilian.

Azmoun came close in the 27th minute after Mateus Henrique sent a looping cross into the box for the Islamic Republic of Iran forward who headed the ball just over the bar.

Sharjah finally got into the thick of things five minutes later following a well constructed build-up involving Caio and Marcus Meloni, who set up Ousmane Camara who, however, dragged his effort wide.

The trio would combine again beautifully in the 35th minute with Meloni delivering the finishing touch when he outmuscled Shabab’s Bogdan Planic before slotting past Hamad Almeqbaali to give Sharjah the lead.

Federico Cartabia nearly leveled for Shabab in first half stoppage time with a curling free-kick but Alhosani produced an acrobatic save to deny the Argentine.

Sharjah limited Shabab’s rhythm in the second half, with the first real chance coming in the 71st minute after Mateusao angled his header from close range over the bar off Cartabia’s cross.

Caio almost extended Sharjah’s advantage five minutes later with the Brazilian embarking on a surging run following Meloni’s long ball, before pulling his grounded effort wide.

Shabab pushed for the equaliser but efforts from Cartabia, Yahya Al Ghassani and Azmoun failed to trouble Alhosani.

However, the Sharjah keeper was finally beaten in the fourth minute of stoppage time by a glancing header from Mu'nas Dabbur to force the game into an additional 30 minutes.

Both teams failed to produce clear cut chances in the first half of extra-time with Shabab’s Al Ghassani pulling his effort wide from an acute angle, while Maro Katinic skied his shot from outside the box.

Azmoun had a chance to put the tie to bed three minutes into the second period of extra-time, but the forward failed to cleanly connect to Al Ghassani’s cross, with his header just going wide of the right post as the match headed to penalties.

With the shootout tied at 3-3, Alhosani guessed the right way to save Santos’ spot-kick, with Guilherme Biro converting the fifth penalty to take Sharjah into the semi-finals.

Penalty shootout win takes Sharjah through

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