Al Ain held by Al Wahda to a draw
Al Ain had to content today evening with a 1-1 draw with their hosts of Al Wahda at Round 11 of the Arabian Gulf League at Al Nahyan Stadium.
Dzsudzsák gave his hosting side a 1-0 lead in 26th minute of the first half, but Saeed Al Katheeri levelled for Al Ain in 52nd minute of the second half.
Al Ain was twice penalized in the second half; Ismail Ahmad was sent off and a goal was disallowed by the referee.
The draw increased Al Ain’s tally to 20 points and placed it fourth in the table; while Al Wahda is placed sixth with 17 points.
The match started on a high tempo; the hosts surprised their visiting team with a serious attack that would have secured them a first-minute lead if their attempt had not been kept out thanks to a sharp save by Khalid Issa.
The same situation was reversed by Al Ain at 3rd minute when Douglas Dyanfres unleashed a powerful shot from the box edge, but the goalie Ali Al Hosani turned it to a corner kick which was messed up.
Both teams’ clashes at the midfield were put to an end when Al Wahda’s Bulgarian Balázs Dzsudzsák took advantage of the injury suffered by Al Ain’s left-back Saeed Al Menhali to control the ball and divert its path powerfully into Al Ain’s net in 26th minute.
After Saeed was replaced by Khalid Abdurrahman in 30th minute, Bandar Al Ahbabi almost equalized for his side in 39th minute, but his shot missed Al Wahda’s completely unwatched goal.
Al Ain’s South Korean Lee Myung-Joo attempted at the goal from inside the box taking advantage of a well-delivered cross from ‘Amouri’, but his attempt was skillfully saved by Al Hosani.
Following his replacement with the injured Dyanfres in 52nd of the second half, Saeed Al Katheeri passed the test when he immediately levelled for Al Ain with a successful header following 2 failure attempts at the goal by Bandar and Mohannad Al Enezi.
The main referee brought Al Ain’s continuous attacks to score the go-ahead goal when he showed the Red Card to Al Ain’s Ismail Ahmad surprising everyone in 74th minute. The match then went to a recess with the scoreboard reading 1-1.
Al Ain 1
Goals Saeed Al Katheeri, 52”
Lineup Khalid Issa, Saeed Al Menhali, Mohannad Salem Al Enezi, Ismail Ahmad, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Lee Myung-Joo, Ahmad Berman, Mohamed Abdurrahman, Caio Lucas, Omar Abdurrahman, Douglas Dyanfres
Substitutions Khalid Abdurrahman, Saeed Al Katheeri and Amer Abdurrahman came on for Saeed Al Menhali, Douglas Dyanfres and Mohamed Abdurrahman in 30th, 50th and 87th minutes respectively
Yellow Cards Mohamed Abdurrahman, 25”; Mahmoud Al Mas, 60”
Red Cards Ismail Ahmad, 74”
Al Wahda 1
Goals Balázs Dzsudzsák, 26”
Lineup Ali Al Hosani, Mohamed Al Menhali, Mohamed Al Abdulla, Sultan Al Ghaferi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Jorge Valdivia, Rim Chang-woo, Ahmad Rashid, Balázs Dzsudzsák, Mohamed Al Akbari, Sebastián Tagliabué
Substitutions Jorge Valdivia, Balázs Dzsudzsák and Mohamed Al Abdulla were replaced by Ismail Matar, Nasser Abdul Hadi and Khalil Ibrahim in 40th, 66th and 76th minutes respectively
Yellow Cards Mohamed Al Akbari, 71”
Red Cards None
Referees
The match was officiated by Sultan Abdurrazaq who was assisted by Ahmad Al Rashedi, 1st Assistant; Hassan Ahmad Al Hammadi, 2nd Assistant; Sultan Mohamed Saleh, Fourth Official; Issa Darwish, Referee Observer; and Mohamed Al Hatawi, Match Commissioner.
