Al Ain loses to ES Sétif in the Arab Club Champions Cup
Al Ain lost 2-0 to ES Sétif in the first leg match of Round 32 of the Arab Club Champions Cup held in Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb-Croatia. The two teams will play their second leg match on Saturday 4th August 2018.
The two teams started their attack attempts from the kickoff whistle and Al Ain was about to score their lead goal when Bandar Al Ahbabi take an advantage of a mistake committed by Sétif’s goalkeeper who could not palm off the ball in front of his net. Bandar passed the ball within the box but there was nobody to send it in the back nets of Sétif. It did not take much time for Sétif players to respond when Sétif striker Gabo sent a powerful shot past Khaled’s right post. Hussein El Shahat sent a deft pass to Bandar who was tackled by Sétif defender “22”. The referee pointed to penalty point and Ibrahim Diaky translated it into a goal “23”. Caio has a great chance to add Al Ain’s second goal following receiving a perfect pass from Diaky but Sétif’s goalkeeper sent it off “27”. More attacked were launched by the “Boss” stars and El Shahat fired a strong shot but in the hands of the goalkeeper. On the other hand, Sétif’s Ali Nkro sent an elegant shot but hit the post and bounced back “30”. At the minute 41st of the match in the 30th minute, and in the 41st minute Abdul Mo’men Gabo was able to level the result and the first half ended with draw result.
In the second half of the game Al Ain looked better despite problems of the players’ fitness level who just finished the first phase of the team’s away training camp. Al Ain dominated the match and El Shahat was efficient in the back area of Sétif who only relied on launching counter attacks. Zoran made certain substitutes by replacing Ibrahim Diaky by Mohammed Abdul Rahman. However, Abdul Mo’men Gabo of Sétif managed to add the second goal of his team from a counter attack “82”. Shiotani tried to level the result by sending a brilliant shot but the goalkeeper was able to palm it off and turning it to a corner kick. Then Zoran replace Rayan Yaslam by Khaled Abdul Rahman and all Ain players tired their best to score a goal but in vain as the match referee whistled announcing the end of the match.
Al Ain Starting XI
Khaled Issa, goalkeeper, and in the back line: Ismail Ahmed, Mohammed Ahmed, Shiotani and Bandar Ahbabi. The midfielders were Ahmed Barman, Amer Abdul Rahman, Rayan Yaslam Caio Lucas. Al Ain’s striker were Hussein El Shahat and Ibrahim Diaky. Substitutions included: replacing Ibrahim Diaky by Mohammed Abdul Rahman and Rayan Yaslam by Khaled Abdul Rahman.
