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Al Ain, Al Wahda tie ends in stalemate

Al Wahda came away with a point against heavyweights Al Ain to remain undefeated in Group A in an Etisalat Cup fixture at the Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium in Al Ain on Sunday night.

Al Ain looked the better side on the night but fluffed a flurry of chances in front of goal. But Al Wahda fought well to end with a goalless draw and come away with a clean scoresheet.

Al Wahda top Group A with seven points. They have won two and drawn one. Al Ain are second with four points, having played a game less. They have one win and a draw.

Both clubs were without key players for this game. Al Al were without their talisman Asamoah Gyan, who was away for the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Malawi. He scored the match-winner in their 1-0 win over Malawi.

Al Ain were also without their new Asian player Alex Brosque, who linked-up with his Australian teammates in Doha for the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Iraq.

Another foreign signing Jires Kembo Ekoko had still not recovered from an injury.

Star playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Ahmed, goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman and Muhanad Al Enazi are with the UAE National team for their friendly against Bahrain.

Al Wahda too were hit by players who were on National duty. Captain Ismail Matar, Mohammed Al Shehhi and Hamdan Al Kamali are with the UAE National team, while Mohammed Al Shaibah is with the Oman National team.

With so many absentees upfront, the onus was on Ali Al Wehaibi. Wehaibi had a couple of chances to put Al Ain up in the first half, but muffed it up. Helal Saeed chipped one over the Al Wahda defence and it found Ali Al Wehaibi one on one with the goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani. But Al Wehaibi let loose a feeble shot which Adel Al Hosani did well to collect.

He had another opportunity just before the break when Helal Saeed sent in a fine through ball. But Al Wehaibi fired it wide from inside the box.

In the second half too, Al Wehaibi missed another chance when he shot wide after receiving another through ball.

Al Wahda’s chance came in the second half but they were denied by goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan. Abdulrazak’s attempt was tapped over the cross bar by Sultan.

james@khaleejtimes.com