Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: Brazilian striker Douglas scored twice as Al Ain pulled themselves back into contention for a place in the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli on Tuesday.
The win – Al Ain’s second in a row over the Saudi side – moves the inaugural ACL champions into second place in Group D and onto seven points, three fewer than leaders El Jaish from Qatar.
Douglas netted in each half of a game in which Al Ain had the better chances before securing a result that leaves the continued participation of Al Ahli, who claimed a stoppage-time consolation through Saleh Al Amari, in peril.
“We achieved a good win tonight against a strong team” said Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic. “We had a good lead by the end of the first half and we went into the second period looking to double our advantage and this is what we achieved.
“The three points are very important because it is an away win. However, this doesn’t mean that we are close as we still have two matches. We must concentrate in order to win those matches and secure our place in the knockout stage.”
Christian Gross’ team remain bottom of the group with just three points from their opening four games and, with an inferior head-to-head record against Al Ain following their two losses, they could exit the competition in the next round of matches.
Al Ain, however, have recovered from a poor start that saw Zlatko Dalic’s side pick up just one point from their opening two games against El Jaish and this was a fully deserved win.
Douglas put Al Ain in front in the 25th minute, finishing off a fine move that saw Omar Abdulrahman release Mohamed Ahmed down the right wing and his curling centre was headed in by the Brazilian as the 28-year-old beat defender Aqeel Al Sahabi to the cross.
Seven minutes later Al Ain almost went further ahead only for Fellipe Bastos’ free kick to be headed off the goal line by Al Sahabi, while a later Bastos attempt was well saved by Yasser Al Mosailem.
Al Ain were comfortably in control and substitute Danilo Asprilla – on in place of Bastos – beat Al Mosailem in the 72nd minute, only to see the ball come back off the post.
Al Ahli rarely posed much of a threat, although Gross’ team almost levelled with 15 minutes remaining when Khaled Eisa in the Al Ain goal was called into action to push Giannis Fetfatzidis’ free kick to safety.
Four minutes later, though, Al Ain doubled their advantage with an assured finish by Douglas, who controlled Asprilla’s low cross with his first touch before smashing the ball down the middle of Al Mosailem’s goal with his second.
Omar Al Somah could have pulled his team back into the game with eight minutes remaining, but his low shot was well saved as Eisa dived to his right to stop the ball beating him at his near post before Al Ahli did eventually claim a consolation when Al Amari curled his shot home deep into stoppage time.
“We played tonight with a new formation and we played well at the start of the match,” said Gross. “However, we started to lose easy balls in midfield as the match progressed and this affected us.
“We tried our best to comeback in the second period and created several scoring chances but we couldn’t stop the counter attacks of our opponents. We are now in a difficult situation but we will fight in order to qualify.”
Photo: AFP