Al Ain loses 2-1 to Al Jazira in the Arabian Gulf Cup
Al Ain has lost 2-1 to Al Jazira in the second round Group A match of the Arabian Gulf Cup at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium on Friday.
Al Jazira scores the first goal a minute before the end of first half. The Garden City Club’s player Caio scored from the spot kick, bringing Al Ain level in the 51st minute. Salem Al Eedi scored the second goal of Al Jazira in the minute 68.
The win takes Al Jazira’s tally to four points in the second place, while Al Ain stop at one point in fifth place in Group A of the Arabian Gulf Cup.
There was a spate of attacks from the Boss end, depending on the high pressure style of play. The rivals were very cautious at beginning and resorted to the counter-attacks and long balls.
Yousef Ahmed did not manage to give Al Ain the lead in the 10th minute when he lost an easy chance to score.
Khalid Eisa name chanted by fans
The fans of Al Ain, at the minute 17, chanted the name of the team goalkeeper Khalid Eisa who was suspended by the UAE Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee for one game.
The shot stopper was suspended for pointing at the club’s logo and raising the team jersey as a kind of special cheerfulness, the thing that was considered by the committee as a “provocation”.
In the minute 25, the goalkeeper of Al Jazira saved a free kick shot from Tsukasa Shiotani.
The hosts were finally able to break the deadlock a minute before the end of first half when the onrushing Ahmed Rabia who beat Al Ain goalkeeper Mohamed Bu Senda to the ball before heading it to the empty goal. Defender Mohamed Khalfan attempted a goal-line clearance, but the referee deemed it to have crossed the line.
Croatian Coach Zoran Mamic substituted Yousef Ahmed by Rayan Yslm at the 46th minute.
In the 51st minute, defender Salim Rashid mistimed his kick to catch Douglas’ leg instead of the ball. The referee pointed to the spot. Caio successfully converted the resulting penalty kick to bring Al Ain level.
Romarinho and Salem Al Eedi combined to restore Al Jazira’s lead in the 68th minute. The Brazilian beat his marker on the left and sent a diagonal cross for defender Al Eedi who stabbed in from seven yards out for his first ever Al Jazira goal.
Al Ain 1
Goals: Caio Lucas
Starting line-up: Mohamad Saeed Busendda, Mohanad Salem, Ismail Ahmed, Shiotani, Mohamed Khalfan, Amer Abdulrahman, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Caio, Yousef Ahmad, Mohsen Abdullah and Douglas.
Substitutes: Rayan Yaslam – Khaled Khalfan and Ali Eid Ghumail
Yellow cards: Mohamed Khalfan “49”
Red cards: No red cards.
Al Jazira 2
Goals: Ahmed Rabea 44 – Salem Al Eedi 68.
Starting line-up: Ali Khaseif, Mohammed Fawzi, Musallem Fayez, Ali Ahmed Mabkhout, Saleem Rashid, Eissa Saqer Al Otaiba, Salem Abdulla, Mohamad Omar Al Attas Fares Juma, Ahmed Al Ghilani and Mohamed Jamal.
Substitutes: Romarinho – Salem Aleedi – Yaqoub Yousef
Yellow cards: Musallem Fayez and Mohamed Jamal
Red cards: No red cards.
Referees
The game referee was Yacoub Al Hammadi and the assistants were Jassem Abdullah and Ali Al Shehhi. The fourth official was Abdullah Ashtiri and the referee assessor was Saleh Marzouki while the Fahd Al Hosani was the game commissioner.
The fans
The number of the fans who attended the game hit 3,812.
