Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Al Ain: Asamoah Gyan scored twice in the second half as Al Ain came from a goal down to beat United Arab Emirates league rivals Al Jazira 2-1 on Tuesday to advance to the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League for the first time since 2006.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Al Jazira gave themselves hope of rescuing the tie when Ali Mabkhout fired the visitors ahead in the 18th minute at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
But Al Ain took control of the contest in the second half and Gyan equalised on the hour mark before he netted his tournament-leading 10th goal with nine minutes left to seal a 4-2 aggregate triumph for the 2003 AFC Champions League winners.
Needing to score at least two goals to avoid elimination, Al Jazira began the match on the front foot and they took the lead in the 18th minute.
Abdelaziz Barrada found his route to goal on the left flank blocked off but the Moroccan played the ball infield to Abdulla Mousa whose low cross nicked off a defender on its way into the six-yard-box where Mabkhout was on hand to turn the ball into the net.
Al Ain sought a response to that goal but they were frustrated by the well-organised Al Jazira defence who resorted to some rough tactics to curb the influence of Omar Abdulrahman. The United Arab Emirates international playmaker continually found himself on the end of strong challenges including an ugly late tackle by Salim Ali that earned the Al Jazira player a deserved yellow card.
However, the home side took control in the second half and they went close to an equaliser when Mohamed Abdulrahman struck the underside of the crossbar in the 56th minute.
The equaliser would arrive four minutes later when Mohamed Abdulrahman slipped the ball through to Gyan on the edge of the box and the Ghanaian calmly side-footed the ball past goalkeeper Ali Khaseif into the bottom corner of the net.
Mohamed Abdulrahman had a shot deflected wide by Khalid Sebil midway through the second half but Al Ain would make the game safe in the 81st minute with Gyan’s second goal of the night.
Alex Brosque played the ball across to Al Jazira box to Ibrahim DIaky who relayed the ball quickly to his left to Gyan, who again found space to slide his effort past Ali Khaseif.
Gyan could have had a hat-trick when he dragged a shot wastefully wide in the 88th minute after he had been sent clear by Omar Abdulrahman but the Ghanaian had already done more than enough to send his side through to the last eight for the first time in eight years.