Al Wasl rally brilliantly to stun Al Ain

Dubai - The win, Al Wasl's 14th and eighth at home, helped them overtake Al Ain to third in the standings with 48 points.

By James Jose

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Published: Sun 16 Apr 2017, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Mon 17 Apr 2017, 9:46 PM

 Al Wasl conjured perhaps one of the most stirring fightbacks in the history of the Arabian Gulf League to shock Al Ain at the Zabeel Stadium late on Saturday night.
Al Ain were three goals to the good well within the half hour through a brace from Yousef Ahmed and one from Caio Lucas. But Caio Canedo and Fabio de Lima scored doubles themselves, the latter's strike deep in stoppage time, as The Cheetahs left The Boss high and dry 4-3.
The win, Al Wasl's 14th and eighth at home, helped them overtake Al Ain to third in the standings with 48 points.
Meanwhile, Al Ain suffered their fifth defeat and third on the road and they are fourth with 46 points. With three fixtures remaining, the race for AFC Champions League spots is getting interesting.
With the Zabeel Stadium being their fortress, Al Wasl started brightly by venturing out, while Al Ain were pinned down to the middle of the pitch.
But it was only a matter of time before Al Ain hit the ground running. They tested the waters with Dawoud Ali cross from the right, following a freekick, five minutes in. But goalkeeper Humaid Abdulla managed a clean save.
Four minutes later, Caio Lucas played a neat one-two with Omar Abdulrahman before taking a shot. But his attempt sailed way over the cross bar.
The Boss' first real threat came on 15 minutes when Omar weaved his way from the right and teed it up for his brother Mohammed Abdulrahman. But Mohammed pulled the trigger a tad too early and missed. Then, Caio sent his left-footer from the left, over the cross bar.
Two minutes later, Yousef Ahmed played on to a neat through from Lee Myung Joo but his effort agonisingly just whizzed over the cross bar.
Al Ain finally breached Al Wasl's fortress on 23 minutes with Omar sending a cheeky grounder from the byline and Yousef getting even cheekier with a clever deflection, to leave Humaid Abdulla with no chance to stop it.
And The Boss were two goals ahead in the blink of an eye with Yousef lobbing it over Humaid Abdulla following a Mohammed Abdulrahman long ball from the right, two minutes later.
The demolition, it seemed, was complete well within the half hour with Caio Lucas heading it home from the near post for his 12th goal in the competition after Yousef had sent it across the goal.
Al Wasl were shaken from the slumber and pressed ahead and came close on 33 minutes but Ahmed Al Shamsi shot over after Caio Canedo couldn't get a clear shot at it.
The Cheetahs were gifted a way back into the game and they needed no second invitations. Ahmed Barman brought down Canedo inside the box after the latter had made a sortie from the right and referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan pointed to the spot. And Canedo made no mistake as goalkeeper Khalid Eisa went the wrong way.
That goal gave them a much-needed fillip and they went about looking to reduce the deficit. The Cheetahs had two good opportunities with four minutes left in the half but both Ronaldo Mendes and Abdalla Saleh were denied by Khalid Eisa.
Al Wasl had the better of the exchanges after the restart and saw Canedo's header go wide from close range.
Then, Fabio de Lima's threatening left-footer from inside the box was deflected away by Khalid Eisa.
The Cheetahs did reduce the margin on 56 minutes with Canedo precise with his header after Mendes had curled in the freekick from the left.
Al Ain could have pulled away but Caio Lucas couldn't quite control his shot and fired it over after Omar had crossed from the right.
AL Wasl's fightback was complete with a stoic Fabio de Lima tucking it from close range after the Al Ain backline had initially done well to repel the repeated attacks.
But there was to be more to the tale as Lima slipped it in, in the third minute of stoppage time, as the Al Ain defence lay in tatters. 
james@khaleejtimes.com


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