Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Saida: Raja Rafe scored four goals as Syria’s Al Wahda picked up their first points in the AFC Cup this year after recording a 5-2 win over Iraq’s Air Force Club in Group C on Wednesday.
Rafe scored twice in either half at Saida Municipal Stadium, with Osama Omari also on target for Al Wahda, who lost last month’s opener 2-1 to Oman’s Al Orouba before last week’s meeting with Palestine’s Al Dharia was postponed.
Hammadi Ahmed scored twice in the second half for Air Force Club, who had recorded back-to-back wins at the start of the campaign.
“We had a big match tonight and we deserved the big win, although the result doesn't reflect the level of our opponents, who are a good team and they are considered as one of the best teams and they are the leaders of the group,” said Al Wahda coach Raafat Mohammad.
“The result is good, but it could have been even bigger had we scored from the other chances that we missed.
“Nevertheless, the win tonight is a good step towards achieving our target in the competition and hopefully it will be the start of more victories in the future.”
Al Wahda started strongly and took the lead after just 11 minutes as Rafe capitalised on a moment of confusion inside the Air Force Club penalty area before beating goalkeeper Fahad Talib.
And Rafe doubled Al Wahda’s lead 11 minutes before half-time as the striker turned Ali Dyab’s cross past Talib.
Rafe completed his hat-trick nine minutes into the second half as the striker stole the ball in the middle of the field before charging towards goal and beating an advancing Talib.
And the striker took his tally to the night to four just two minutes later as Rafe fired home a first time effort from Bakri Tarrab’s cross.
But despite being forced onto the backfoot for the majority of the contest, Air Force Club pulled a goal back a minute before the hour mark as Ahmed’s free-kick clipped the crossbar on its way past Al Wahda goalkeeper Ibrahim Almeh.
Al Wahda, though, restored their four goal advantage five minutes later as Rafe turned provider for Omari to beat Talib with a well-struck effort after bringing the ball under control on his chest.
But despite the result being beyond doubt, there was still time for Air Force Club to find the net for a second time as Ahmed made no mistake from the penalty spot.
“We didn't have a good performance tonight that satisfies our ambition and the ambition of our fans,” said Air Force Club coach Ahmed Khudir.
“On the other hand, the Syrians had a better performance as they are a strong team and they managed to deal with the different situations of the match very well.
“Our opponents took advantage of their chances and they scored goals while we failed to score from the chances that we created and that could have allowed us to get back into the match.
“We will try our best to fix the mistakes that we made tonight in order to comeback in the next matches.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports