injury. However, he was able to play again later on. Ismail Matar tried to break through two minutes later but was unsuccessful. Mohamed Abdulrahman was substituted in 70' for Saif Rashid to reinvigorate the midfield. In 73', Al Sheeb denied a chance by Ahmed Khalil. Akram Afif later fell into the Emirati penalty area, but the match continued. Qatar scored their third goal in 81' when captain Hassan Al-Haydos maneuvered past Bandar Al-Ahbabi and clipped the ball over Eisa. They then replaced Almoez Ali with Ahmed Alaaeldin. As the Emiratis' fighting spirits being completely demoralised, Ismail Ahmed was shown a straight red card late on for dangerous play in 90+1'. Substitute Hamid Ismail, who replaced Akram Afif, rounded off Eisa to confirm Qatar's place in the final. After Qatar made their last replacement, with Tameem Al-Muhaza replacing the Portuguese-born Ró-Ró, the referee blew the whistle and Qatari players celebrated their nation's first ever Asian Cup final and victory over the disgruntled Emirati side. Details Aftermath The match was marred by bottle and footwear-throwing incidents committed by the UAE supporters which occurred throughout of the match and became more intense as Qatar proved to be too strong for the host nation. This conduct was preceded by booing the Qatari national anthem. The two countries have had a hostile relationship and had cut ties due to the ongoing diplomatic crisis. After the match, Emirati fans had reacted with disgust and fury over the unbelievable defeat of the home team, and had tried to break into the stadium for a possible brawl with Qatari squad, but no avail. The outcome of the match was so humiliating that manager Alberto Zaccheroni had to apologize for the home fans, as his contract also expired following the end of the tournament. The defeat was also the first ever Emirati defeat to Qatar since 2002, ending the country's 17 years undefeated streak over the Gulf rival. Criticism ran against the UAE for its failure to contain fans' hooliganism throughout the match. Moreover, the defeat meant it was the United Arab Emirates' heaviest defeat ever against Qatar in their competitive history before Qatar trounced the Emiratis 5–0 in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. Unaccepting the defeat, the United Arab Emirates Football Association lodged a formal appeal to the AFC over the eligibility of Sudanese-born Almoez Ali and Iraqi-born Bassam Al-Rawi, claiming that they did not qualify to play