Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Al Ain: Cosmin Olariou saw his current club defeat his former employers as Al Ain came from a goal down to defeat ten-man Al Hilal 3-1 at the Tahnoun bin Mohamed Stadium in their AFC Champions League Group D match on Wednesday.
Abdulla Al Dosary gave the Saudi visitors the lead after nine minutes but Omar Abdulrahman levelled with an sublime volley in the 27th minute and Australian striker Alex Brosque then put the United Arab Emirates league champions ahead almost immediately after the half-time interval.
Salem Al Dawsari was sent off for denying Brosque a goal-scoring opportunity in the 55th minute and although Midel Radoi’s resulting spot kick was saved, substitute Asamoah Gyan sealed the win with a stunner in stoppage time.
The home side began the match well and they nearly opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Jires Kembo-Okoko sent in a low cross from the left flank that Australian striker Brosque was unable to direct on target.
Brosque also had a glancing header stopped by goalkeeper Abdullah Al Sudairy early on but it was the visitors who took the lead against the run of play in the ninth minute.
A corner from the right was met by Al Dawsari, who rose above the Al Ain defence to plant a firm header on target. Goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman did well to stop the effort, diving low to his right to push it away from goal but Al Dosary pounced on the loose ball and squeezed it in from a narrow angle.
Al Ain tried to fashion a quick response and Kembo-Okoko nearly put his team on level terms with a low angled shot from 25 metres that cannoned back off the right post.
Al Sudairy was called into action to stop a long-range effort by Kembo-Okoko and then found himself in the right place when Brosque attempted to poke the ball past him from 10 metres out.
However, the home side’s pressure finally told in the 27th minute. Kembo-Okoko found himself in space on the left flank and slipped the ball to an overlapping Khaled Abdulrahman whose cross picked out the late-arriving Omar Abdulrahman, who smashed an unstoppable volley into the top corner of the net.
Al Ain were unable to add to the score before half-time despite their continued dominance but they would take the lead just seconds after the restart. Omar Abdulrahman burst down the right flank and sent in an unorthodox cross with the outside of his left boot that was met at the near post by Brosque, whose controlled volley found the far corner the net
Al Hilal could not muster a response and they found themselves a man down in the 54th minute when Al Dawsari lost possession on the edge of his box and then tripped up Brosque as he attempted to burst clear in the box.
The Al Hilal defender was sent off but Radoi saw his penalty well stopped by Al Sudairy to keep the scoreline close.
The 10 men of Al Hilal rarely threatened an equaliser as the home side kept the pressure on with both Radoi and Brosque going close.
The result was put beyond doubt in stoppage time when substitute Asamoah Gyan received the ball with his back to goal on the left of the box and worked his way towards the middle before firing a brilliant shot into the top right corner of the net leaving Al Hilal coach Zlatko Dalic to concede that his team had been second best on the night.
“Al Ain were the better side and our players didn’t perform as we expected,” said the Croatian.
“Our opponents deserved to win because they put on a better performance while we failed to maintain our lead and gave them the chance to come back into the game.
“Their first goal gave us some problems and when they scored again early in the second half and we were reduced to 10 men, the result became clear.
“It was a disappointing result but we will try our best to recover for our next matches as there is still a lot to play for.”
Al Ain coach Olaroiu, who led Al Hilal to a league title and two Crown Prince Cups duringhis spell with the Riyadh giants, took great delight from his team’s performance.
“Al Ain had a big game and we showed the good level of UAE football against a big team like Al Hilal,” said the Romanian.
“We have several talented players who reacted well to the game plan and this helped us to win tonight.
“The match in general was good and the good thing for us is that the players were not affected when we conceded the first goal. Instead they made a good comeback and scored three goals to take the three points from such an important match.”
Photo: AFP