Gyan stars in Al Ain’s victory

Al Wasl and Al Fujariah players. Photo by Mukesh Kamal/ Khaleej Times

Dubai — A brace by Asamoah Gyan and a strike by Miroslav Storch earned former champions Al Ain a valuable 3-0 away victory over Bani Yas and a temporary lead at the top of the Arabian Gulf League’s table at the Al Shamkha Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday evening.

In another clash, Al Wasl continued their impressive performance after the Yellows beat promoted Fujairah 3-1 at the Zabeel Stadium.

Al Ain are now 23 points, one point in front of the leading pair Al Shabab and Al Wahda before their respective encounters in the same round, while the Purple squad have the advantage of two rescheduled clashes against Al Shabab at Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium in Dubai on December 22 and an easy home clash against Fujairah later in February.

Gyan in his first appearance after the suspension beat the offside trap with a lovely move to control a long pass from the centre to break the deadlock with a perfect chip in the 38^th minute and Stoch fired home the second goal three minutes later to end the first half on a winning note. Gyan came again to slot in the third goal in the 55^th minute of the almost one-sided game.

Meanwhile, Al Wasl delighted the big crowd of the die-hard fans with a convincing performance that improved the club’s chances in the chase for the title. Following a goalless slow-paced first half, Caio drew first blood for Al Wasl four minutes into the second period. In the 63^rd minute, Al Wasl’s teenager Ali Salmeen made the best of a poor clearance by the Fujairah’s midfielders and sent home a long range right footer to double the score-line before the home team went three goals clear in the 77^th minute thanks to Ederson’s strike. Mohammed Khalfan scored a consolation goal for the eastern region side in the 85^th minute of the match.

“We have played a very big game to the satisfaction of the relatively big crowd of our faithful fans and this what matters most for us,” said Al Wasl’s skipper Waheed Ismail. “The win has put us only four points behind the temporary leaders Al Ain and hopefully we will be able to build on this and close on the leaders as the competition progresses,” he added.

“I’m happy to see the supporters of the club making their way back to the venue and they will play a very important role in our title’s campaign during the remaining part of the league,” he said.

Al Wasl’s Argentinean coach Gabriel Calderon who has been receiving the praise of the club’s management, players and fans said he’s happy with the progress of the team and they are looking forward to do more in the upcoming commitments.

But, the result was by all means great disappointment for the Fujairah new head coach Ivan Hasek who promised to work on the weak points of the team in their forthcoming home tie against Ajman on Saturday.

“There’s as well a long break by the end of the first part of the national league during which we will be able to have an in-depth assessment of the squad and we will come up with good solutions to end all our sufferings,” he said.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com