Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Abu Dhabi: Khamis Esmaeel’s spectacular second-half strike earned Al Jazira their first point in the AFC Champions League this season as Saudi Arabia champions Al Shabab were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.
Hassan Fallatah’s first time finish on the stroke of half-time had handed Al Shabab the advantage in the Group A contest as the visitors looked to follow up their 2-0 win over Qatar’s El Jaish two weeks ago.
But Esmaeel struck five minutes before the hour mark as UAE Pro League side Al Jazira, who reached the Round of 16 for the first time last year, bounced back from losing last month’s opener 3-1 to Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz despite the late dismissal of Argentinean midfielder Matias Delgado.
“We played well as we went into the game to get a positive result and this is what we achieved by getting one point which has helped us to maintain our position at the top of the group with four points," said Al Shabab coach Michel Preud'homme.
“We knew that Al Jazira were a strong team and they exchanged with us the dominance and both sides had an entertaining match and we nearly lost because of some mistakes at the end of the match. We must work on the mistakes in order to improve in the future.”
Having marked their return to the AFC Champions League with a comfortable win over El Jaish last month, Ahmad Al Astaa, Sebastian Tagliabue and Ahmed Ateef all created chances for Al Shabab as the visitors made an encouraging start in Abu Dhabi.
Al Jazira, though, came close to a breakthrough nine minutes before half-time as 2012 AFC Champions League top scorer Ricardo Oliveira found Fernandinho (Luiz Fernando Pereira da Silva) inside the area, but after creating space for himself, the Brazilian could only fire into the side netting for a tight angle.
Tagliabue continued to pose a threat at the other end as the Argentinean striker beat the Al Jazira offside trap, but after being forced wide by goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, Ali Al Ameri was able to recover and clear the weak shot off the line.
But a minute before half-time a similar run from Tagliabue again drew Khaseif off his line, and this time the Argentinean was able to pick out Fallatah, and the onrushing defender swept the ball into the corner at the first time of asking.
Al Jazira’s struggles to control Tagliabue continued five minutes into the second half as the Argentinean again beat the offside trap only to hit the foot of the post after guiding his shot past Khaseif.
But five minutes before the hour mark Al Jazira equalised in spectacular fashion as Esmaeel’s 40 yard strike deceived Waleed Abdullah with the Al Shabab goalkeeper only able to help the swerving strike into the back of the net.
Oliveira almost followed suit with 14 minutes remaining but the Brazilian’s rising strike failed to find the target with Abdullah at full stretch.
Al Jazira’s chances of completing the comeback were, though, dealt a blow with four minutes remaining as Delgado was shown a straight red card by Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov following a late challenge on Al Shabab captain Ateef.
But despite their numerical disadvantage, Al Jazira almost snatched all three points in stoppage time only for Al Shabab goalkeeper Abdullah to produce a last-ditch one-handed save to deny captain Ibrahim Diaky with the midfielder seemingly favourite to score from just inside the area.
“We were close to achieving an important victory but we were unlucky," said Al Jazira coach Luis Milla.
"I was so happy with the performance of the team, but our joy was not complete as we dropped two points at home.
“Diaky's miss was unbelievable and we nearly got three points had we scored the chances we had.
"Despite the draw, we still have a chance to compete and we must prepare very well for the upcoming matches.”
Photo: WSG