Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Duhok: Iraqi side Duhok sealed their place in the last 16 of the AFC Cup as early goals by Ala’a Abdulzehra and Mohanad Karrar secured a 2-1 win over Yemen’s Al Shab Ibb on Tuesday.
The home side enjoyed a dream start at the Duhok Stadium as Abdulzehra opened the scoring after seven minutes and Karrar added a second in the 14th minute.
James Teddy Owoboskini pulled back a goal for the visitors four minutes later, but the home side held on to crucially increase their advantage over third place Dhofar Club, who drew 2-2 with Jordan’s Al Faisaly, to five points with just one game remaining next week.
“Despite the victory, I’m not satisfied with the performance of the players. The best thing that we did today is win, but the performance was not good and our opponents showed a better performance than our team as they proved to be a good side,” said Duhok coach Fajer Ebrahim.
“We should have respected our opponents and the players didn’t respect the Shab Ibb players and we were lucky that we managed to score two early goals that helped us to win and get the three points.”
Duhok began the game level on points with Al Faisaly and three ahead of Dhofar and got just the start they wanted as Abdulzehra fired the home side ahead early on.
Ali Bahjat made his way down the left flank before sending in a cross which eluded goalkeeper Farag Yashot and a defender but not Abdulzehra, who was in the right place to slot home from close range.
Duhok then extended their lead seven minutes later. Shab Ibb defender Zaher Al Fadhli failed to clear a long ball and Karrar took full advantage as he lobbed the ball over the head of the stranded Yashot to make it 2-0.
To their credit, the Yemeni side pulled a goal back just four minutes later when Wahib Al Mufti made a good run on the right before sending a dangerous cross into the Duhok box. Khalid Mushir tried to head the ball back to his goalkeeper but Owoboskini was quick to the loose ball and he tucked the ball away from close range.
Both sides had their opportunities to add to the score with Duhok creating the majority of the chances.
But neither side could get another goal as the home side picked up three more valuable points and Al Shab Ibb were forced to settle for a fifth straight defeat in the competition.
“We played one of the best matches in the competition this year despite the defeat. We had a good performance and the players were up to the expectations and we nearly scored the equaliser but we missed some chances in the second half,” said Shab Ibb coach Ahmed Ali Qasem.
“I believe that we didn’t deserve to lose as the players gave their best and had a good performance.”
“We are happy with the performance of the players and I believe that the players gained valuable experience from the competition.”
Photo: WSG