Al Ain’s Khalid Eisa (left) reacts as Al Duhail’s Almoez Ali celebrates his goal during the AFC Champions League match played at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates yesterday.
Doha/Al Ain: A brilliant team effort from Al Duhail earned the Qatar giants a significant 4-2 win against UAE’s Al Ain in their AFC Champions League Round of 16 match played at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium yesterday.
Youssef El Arabi (16), Nam Tae-hee (39), Ismail Mohammad (48) and Almoez Ali (55) were on target for Al Duhail who gained a massive advantage in yesterday’s away match ahead of their second leg clash which will take place in Doha on May 15.
The unbeaten Qatari side was in control from the beginning of the game. Several attempts were made by Al Duhail’s Karim Boudiaf, Mohammad and Tae-hee, but El Arabi was the first to open the scoring the visitors.
In the 16th minute, El Arabi headed the ball from the centre of the box but was saved by the Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa. However, the ball was picked up by Ali who passed it through to El Arabi who found the net this time with a left-footed shot from the same spot to the bottom right corner.
The South Korean star Tae-hee doubled their lead in the 39th minute when he almost single-handedly carried the ball from his own box after a fast break to the opposite end of the pitch and beat the goalkeeper. Tae-hee was given a chase all the way by Mohammed Abdulrahman, but the Al Ain midfielder failed to stop the Korean who produced one of the best goals seen this season.
Tae-hee easily got the ball past Al Ain goalkeeper with a clever kick into the bottom left corner as Al Duhail took a 2-0 half-time lead.
Just three minutes after the half-time break, coach Djamel Belmadi was delighted to see a third away goal, this time when Ismail shot from close range into the centre of the goal following a clever through pass by El Arabi.
By this time the Al Ain looked totally dejected, but Al Duhail put more misery on the home side, making it 4-0 in the 55th minute.
Ali perfectly placed himself to receive a cross from Tae-hee and made no mistake in directing the ball into the bottom left corner from the left side of the box with a left-footed kick to bag his first goal of the day.
Al Ain made it 4-1 in the 68th minute as Ahmed Khalil headed the ball into the net from very close range after he received a cross from Omar Abdulrahman.
With just four minutes to go for full time, they reduced the deficit again with Ibrahim Diaky firing into the bottom left corner following a set piece situation.
Elsewhere, Giorgi Gvelesiani’s last-gasp penalty kick was the difference as Iranian giants Zobahan overcome fellow Iranian side Esteghlal 1-0 in the first leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League Round of 16 yesterday.
