Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Aman: Shabab Al Ordon moved off the bottom of Group C in the AFC Cup as a long-range effort by Ahma Al Essawi just before half-time gave the Jordanian league champions a 2-1 win over Alay FC of Kyrgyzstan at the Amman International Stadium on Wednesday.
Alay captain Vitali Timofeev had cancelled out an Oday Zahran penalty with his team’s first ever goal in the competition but Al Essawi produced a fine dipping shot to help 2007 AFC Cup winners Shabab leapfrog their opponents into third place in the group.
“We went into the match with one target which was to win because it is our only way to get back into contention,” said Shabab Al Ordon coach Raed Assaf.
“We expected a tough match but the players gave a good performance and they created many scoring chances.
“We scored two goals and we should have scored more but we won the match at the end of the day and the result will help us to regain our chance of going through. Hopefully we can repeat our victory in the next match.”
There was little real action early on but the game sparked into life in the 20th minute when Mohammad Omar Shishani brought down a long pass in the Alay box but was barged over by defender Veniamin Shumeiko and goalkeeper Rustam Dadabaev before he could get a shot away.
Shabab were awarded a penalty and Zahran stepped up to send Dadabaev the wrong way from the spot, giving the home side a 1-0 lead.
The Kyrgyz side had failed to score in their first two games in the competition but they finally ended their wait for their first AFC Cup goal with a clever strike by Timofeev in the 25th minute.
Alay forward Vladimir Verevkin tussled for the ball with Rawad Abu Khizaran on the right of the Shabab box and went down under the challenge of the Shabab defender. There was an appeal for a penalty but the ball squirmed loose to Timofeev who chipped the ball over the head of goalkeeper Anas Tarif into the far corner of the net.
Shishani missed a good opportunity to restore his side’s lead shortly afterwards when he was found unmarked by Zahran on the left of the Alay box but sent his effort straight at Dadabaev.
But Shabab would regain the lead five minutes before half-time as Abdelhadi Al Maharmeh played the ball towards the right flank where Al Essawi cut in on the blind side of defender Murolimzhon Akhmedov and sent a dipping shot from 20 metres over the head of Dadabaev into the Alay net.
Shabab pushed for another goal after the interval in an effort to kill off the game but they couldn’t find a way through the Alay defence and they were very nearly caught out midway through the half when Ildar Imarov’s fierce drive from distance forced an excellent save from Tariff.
“We were hoping to get a positive result but the defensive mistakes cost us a lot especially the first goal as we could have avoided what happened inside the area,” said Alay coach Vladimir Kulagin, who saw his side remain on one point after three games..
“In the second half we tried our best to come back but we did not have luck. There is no doubt that our chances are not good to qualify as our team lack the necessary experience in the competition unlike the other teams in the group.”
Photo: WSG