Al Ahli’s hopes in President’s Cup dashed by Al Ain
Al Ain stepped to the quarterfinals of the President’s Cup after an impressive 3-1 win over Al Ahli of Dubai today evening at MBZ Stadium.
After the 90-minute game ended in a 1-1 draw, both teams played 2 over times during which Al Ain scored 2 goals Omar Abdurrahman and Ibrahim Diaky, while Ahmed Khalil scored for Al Ahli from a penalty kick.
A Cautious Start
The match began cautiously with both teams feeling each other out. Al Ain has the advantage in the midfield; they organized several attacks from the center and flanks resulting in a wasted corner kick at 10th minute.
Al Ain then completely controlled the course of the match, forcing Al Ahli to throng in the defensive area in order to fend the danger, only relying on counter-attacks.
At 22nd minute, Al Ain’s Caio Lucas missed a definite chance after receiving a low cross from Mohamed Abdurrahman, but the ball went off the goal.
Disallowed Goal
At 27th minute, Caio put a lot of moves in motion, volleying the ball over the goalkeeper Majid Nasser only to hit the net. However, the goal was disallowed by the referee Ammar Al Junaibi.
Eight minutes later, Al Ahli’s defender Mohamed Jaber was shown the yellow card after clearly fouling Omar Abdurrahman, who claimed the free kick before the first half comes to an end.
Dramatic Rivalry
Excitement has dramatically escalated in the 2nd half with Al Ahli awarded a penalty kick, undertaken by Ahmed Khalil who scored the lead at 55th minute. Shortly after, Caio Lucas fired a scorcher from outside the penalty area only to rock the left post. Another low kick shot by Omar Abdurrahman was saved into a corner kick after bumping a defender’s foot.
With Ibrahim Diaky replacing Mohamed Abdurrahman, the former was awarded a penalty kick where Omar Abdurrahman scored the equalizer at 76th minute. The referee blew his whistle heralding the end of the second half with 1 goal each.
In the first additional half, Al Ahli’s goalkeeper repelled a strong kick shot by Douglas only to reach Ibrahim Diaky who simply rocked the net, putting his team into the lead.
Only a few seconds before the final whistle, the inspirational playmaker Omar Abdurrahman fired his club to victory as he scored the third goal.
Al Ain 3
Goals: Omar Abdurrahman 76” – 123″; Ibrahim Diaky 97″
Lineup: Khalid Issa, Khalid Abdurrahman, Mohannad Salim Al Enezi, Ismail Ahmed, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Lee Myung-Joo, Ahmed Berman, Amer Abdurrahman, Mohamed Abdurrahman, Caio Lucas and Omar Abdurrahman.
Substitutions: Douglas Dyanfres, Danilo Asprilla and Ibrahim Diaky came on for Ahmed Berman, Mohamed Abdurrahman and Lee Myung at 59th, 65th and 79th minutes respectively
Yellow cards: Ismail Ahmad, 57″; Omar Abdurrahman, 82″
Red cards: None
Al Ahli 1
Goals: Ahmed Khalil (penalty kick), 56″
Lineup: Majid Nasser, Mohamed Jaber, Abdul Aziz Haikal, Abdul Aziz Sankour, Walid Hussein, Habib Al Fardan, Walid Abbas, Ismail Al Hamadi, Khamis Ismail, Kong Kwoon and Ahmed Khalil
Substitutions: Asamoah Gyan, Walid Anbar and Saeed Jassem replaced Mohamed Jaber, Walid Hussein and Ahmed Khalil at 82nd, 99th and 103rd minutes respectively
Yellow cards: Mohamed Jaber, 30″; Khamis Ismail, 59″; Saeed Jassem, 108″; Abdul Aziz Sankour, 115″
Red cards: None
Referees:
The match was officiated by Ammar Al Junaibi (referee) assisted by Zayed Dawoud (1st assistant referee), Hassan Ahmed Al Hamadi (2nd assistant referee), Yassin Al Mansouri (Fourth Official), Hassan Issa (Match Commissioner) and Ibrahim Ahmed (Referee Observer).
Audience:
10,130 fans watched the game at the Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium.
