Much closer to AFC final
Al Ain secured today night a dominant 3-1 victory over Qatar’s El Jaish in the first leg of AFC semifinals at HBZ Stadium.
After ending 1st half with a 2-0 lead secured by Douglas Dyanfres and Omar Abdurrahman in 16th and 22nd minutes respectively, Caio Lucas lit up the scoreboard 3-1 for Al Ain. El Jaish’s single goal was scored by the Uzbek Sardor Rashidov in 52nd minute.
The first-leg victory brings Al Ain closer to the 2016 AFC Champions League final.
Attended by 15,067 spectators, the match witnessed Al Ain’s serious attempts to end the game early in their favor by piling pressure on El Jaish’s goal from deep positions and down the flanks. Al Ain took full control over the midfield and entertained the spectators with a smooth and rhythm-controlled game orchestrated by their Captain Omar Abdurrahman.
Omar Abdurrahman, Al Ain’s playmaker who was awarded ‘Player of the Match’ title by AFC, was about to secure an early lead for his side at 9th minute when he played a free kick from the box edge; but his shot was skillfully saved by El Jaish’s keeper.
In 16th minute, Al Ain’s superiority came to fruition when the Brazilian striker towered high to receive a fantastic cross from Amouri to score a memorable headed goal for his side.
Al Ain fans were excited when the corner kick played by their star Omar Abdurrahman took a curve path to settle into El Jaish nets in 22nd minute.
Sardor was about to avenge his side when he sent a long-range shot at 30th minute, but it missed the way to Al Ain’s goal.
In 38th minute, Al Ain almost succeeded to score for the third time when Caio ended his fantastic maneuvers at the left flank with a shot that went past the post.
The post saved Al Ain from a scoring shot played by El Jaish’s Brazilian Romário Ricardo da Silva.
The second half saw the visitors playing better; Sardor attempted at Al Ain’s goal but failed to score. They managed to take an advantage of a penalty played by Rashidov and to let the scoreboard read 2-1.
Encouraged by their first goal, El Jaish controlled the proceedings and created many scoring opportunities the most serious of which was a powerful rocket shot unleashed by their brilliant striker Sardor, but Khalid Issa skillfully cleared the ball to a corner kick.
In the stoppage time (90+1), Caio cushioned Al Ain’s lead when he took an advantage of the forward position of El Jaish’s keeper, Khalifa Abu Bakr, to find himself in front of an unwatched goal with a cross sent in time by Amouri.
The final whistle blown by the Australian referee Peter Green was not an announcement of Al Ain’s 3-1 win only but Al Ain’s closer position to the AFC final.
Both teams are set to play the second leg at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Qatar on 18th October; the winners will meet their peers from the other quarterfinal game combining 2 South Korean teams: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and FC Seoul.
