Saudi register 3-2 victory against Mahdi Ali's men as Qatar score 3-1 victory against Oman.

Saudi Arabia's footballer Saeed Al Mowalad (R) fights for the ball with UAE's Ali Ahmed Mabkhout (L) during the semi final of the 22nd Gulf Cup football match at King Fahad stadium in Riyadh. -AFP

Riyadh – The tournament hosts got the better of the title holders on Sunday evening as Saudi Arabia dethroned defending Gulf Cup champions the UAE with a 3-2 victory here at the semi-final stages.

Mahdi Ali’s men began brightly in the early exchanges, but a torrid seven-minute spell midway through the first half signalled the end of their regional reign at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.

Nasser Al Shamrani turned in Saeed Al Mowalad’s right-wing centre to put the Saudis ahead after 19 minutes and the scorer turned provider three minutes later to tee up Nawaf Al Abid for 2-0.

The Whites’ night went from bad to worse on 26 minutes as their talisman Omar Abdulrahman hobbled away from the fray to be replaced by Ismail Al Hammadi.

As he traipsed off the pitch, it appeared as if the UAE’s fading interest in this last-four encounter had gone with him.

However, UAE striker Ahmed Khalil brilliantly conjured up a defiant double (53 & 79) in the second period to raise the prospect of a triumphant turnaround.

The Al Ahli forward halved the daunting deficit eight minutes after the break. Amer Abdulrahman swung in a curling free-kick and Khalil rose to expertly nod a flick header home beyond Saudi shot-stopper Waleed Adbullah.

That goal provided a lifeline to the Whites, while it also only served to spur on the home nation in their concerted quest for a third strike.

The match action became end-to-end and open as a consequence and there was a lingering sense Ali’s men would have to risk losing by more in order to restore parity and potentially cap a remarkable reversal.

To that extent, Ali brought on 2007 Gulf Cup hero Ismail Matar with a quarter of this tussle to go and he combined with Khalil for the UAE to draw level with 11 minutes left on the clock.

Khalil cushioned Matar’s cross down, advanced and drilled into the bottom left-hand corner of Abdullah’s net to spark wild celebrations in the away dugout and end.

Nonetheless, the respite and reprieve proved short-lived as – with four minutes remaining – Salem Al Dawsari jinked into the UAE box and despatched the winner with aplomb.

The UAE will now contest the third/fourth place play-off with Oman at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium on Tuesday night (Kick-off: 6:45pm), whereas the Saudis are through to the final against Qatar on Wednesday evening (Kick-off: 8:45pm) at the King Fahd International Stadium.

Earlier, second-half substitute Ali Assadalla inspired a Qatari comeback as Djamel Belmadi’s team overturned a one-goal deficit against Oman to emerge as 3-1 winners from the first semi.

Qatar fell behind to Raed Saleh’s 24th-minute strike, but they equalised nine minutes before the break through Hassan Khalid’s penalty after goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi had fouled Meshaal Abdulla.

Assadalla’s introduction just before the hour mark then turned the tide in the two-time champions’ favour and he scored twice in eight minutes to put the result beyond doubt. - alex@khaleejtimes.com

Saudi Arabia 3

(Goals: Nasser Al Shamrani 19, Nawaf Al Abid 22, Salem Al Dawsari 86. Yellow cards: Nawaf Al Abid 38, Waleed Rashid 40)

UAE 2

(Goals: Ahmed Khalil 53, 79. Yellow cards: Mohanad Salem 71)