Al Ahli make history in AFC Champions League

Red Knights enter quarters after thrilling draw against Al Ain

Al Ahli players lift their coach Cosmin Olaroiu as they celebrate advancing to the quarterfinals. — KT photo by Nezar Balout

Al ain — Al Ain remained unbeaten in the AFC Champions League and at their fortress, the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. But despite the 3-3 result in what was a top notch game on Wednesday night, they came out beaten badly and bruised, six minutes of madness leaving their Asian dream in tatters.

And it hurt even more to watch their fiercest of rivals Al Ahli progress to the quarterfinals for the very first time, at their expense. The first leg had ended in a 0-0 stalemate and how crucial that proved to be as the Red Knights went through on away goals.

It didn’t seem so at the start though. As the Al Ain faithful unfurled two big banners reading “Fight for glory” prior to kick-off, the team responded with an early goal, just five minutes into what would later become another fractious fixture, at times.

Mohammed Fayez glided in from the left, past a host of defenders and served up an inch perfect pass to Asamoah Gyan. And the ace marksman stopped it with his left foot before turning around and slamming it home. The 14,000 fans went delirious and outshouted the travelling Al Ahli support. At that stage, a quarterfinal berth looked theirs for the taking.

Al Ain fans behind the Al Ahli dug-out screamed at Cosmin Olaroiu, once their beloved coach, telling him and his team to pack their bags and go home.

The Romanian looked at them and playfully smiled. For all of Al Ain’s intent in the opening minutes, that smile seemed more like a warning of an impending storm.

Al Ain had one other chance to double their advantage later on but Jires Kembo-Ekoko made a mess of it after finding himself unmarked, following a superb through from Omar Abdulrahman from the right. Al Ahli threatened through Ahmed Khalil but goalkeeper Khalid Eisa did well to punch away the UAE international’s dangerous freekick.

Al Ahli knew an away goal will put their rivals under pressure and they went in search of that after the break. As a prelude to that, Cosmin bolstered his midfield by bringing on Luis Antonio Jimenez for defender Abdulaziz Sanqour at the restart. Al Ahli then began to take wings as Al Ain switched off and were content on preserving their lead.

The Red Knights came agonisingly close four minutes into the half with Everton Ribeiro asking questions with a menacing grounder from the tip of the box. But Eisa dived to his left and pushed it away. Then, the storm arrived.

Jimenez curled in an inviting corner and Ahmed Khalil’s header took a deflection of Salmeen Khamis’ shoulder and went in.

Even before the dust could settle, Al Ahli took the lead through Ahmed Khalil, who sprinted down the right after a Jimenez through and fired it into the far post.

With the game slipping out of their hands, Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic decided to bring on Miroslav Stoch for the off-colour Ekoko. But the Garden City club were ripped apart with Al Ahli chalking up their third in six minutes.

Eisa just about managed to block Ribeiro’s effort but Khalil pounced on the rebound and tapped it in as teammate Majed Hassan rushed to Cosmin and jumped on him and hugged him.

It left Al Ain a mountain to climb. It was now or never for Al Ain and Dalic threw in fresh legs in Mohammed Abdulrahman and Rashed Eisa in place of veterans captain Helal Saeed and Ibrahim Diaky.

Gyan chest down a Mohammed Ahmed cross from the right and slotted it home to give Al Ain a ray of hope. As Al Ain tried to make a fist of it, the visitors rung in the substitutions and resorted to the usual time-wasting tactics.

Substitute Rashed Eisa levelled it in the middle of stoppage time with a fine grounder after an Omar pass. But it was a little too late in coming as the clock timed out to signal the end.

james@khaleejtimes.com