Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Al Ain: Cosmin Olaroiu has already shifted his focus to Saturday’s UAE President’s Cup semi-final clash with Al Dhafra as Al Ahli aim to end the season on a high after seeing of Al Ain to book their place in the last eight of the AFC Champions League.
Al Ahli have never advanced beyond the Round of 16, but three goals in five second-half minutes were the key to Olariou’s side eking out a 3-3 draw with Al Ain that saw the Dubai club advance via the away goals ruling.
ACL RD16 2nd Leg: Al Ain 3-3 Al Ahli
“I’m extremely happy to advance to the quarter-finals as this is a big achievement for Al Ahli,” said the Romanian. “The players put in an excellent performance in the match tonight and they deserved to advance to the next round.
“Our concentration now is on the next match against Al Dhafra in the President’s Cup and despite the fact that we will be tired after this great match that we played today, we will give our best to win the title.”
A goal-laden five minutes spell early in the second half secured Al Ahli’s place in the last eight, alongside Qatar’s Lekhwiya, Naft Tehran from Iran and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the western half of the draw.
Asamoah Gyan had given Al Ain the lead in the first half but Salman Khamis’ 51st minute equaliser was quickly followed by a brace from Ahmad Khalil in the 54th and 56th minutes that put Al Ahli in the driving seat.
Gyan pulled one back with 12 minutes remaining before Rashed Eisa scored in stoppage time, but it was not enough to overhaul Al Ahli, who advance to the last eight for the first time in their history.
“We played with the attacking tactics that we wanted to play with and scored quick goals in the second half,” said Olaroiu, who led Saudi Arabia at the AFC Asian Cup in Australia in January.
“Our main problem in this match and in other matches is that the players lose their concentration in the final minutes.”
Photo: AFP