Sweet revenge as Al Ain go top

Mohammed Abdulrahman of Al Ain vies for ball possession against Al Fujairah players. — KT photo by Nezar Balout

Al Ain: After a barren run of two games, Al Ain found their scoring and winning ways once again by avenging their loss against Al Fujairah at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Saturday night.

A brace from Gyan and an own goal from Abdulaziz Ismail gave ‘The Boss’ a 3-0 win in their rearranged Arabian Gulf League. The victory avenged their solitary goal to Al Fujairah last week and also gave them sole leadership of the League.

Zlatko Dalic’s men nudged ahead and now have a three-point lead over Al Jazira. They are on 39 points while Al Jazira have 36.

The first half saw plenty of action with Al Fujairah being more than a match to their illustrious rivals. They had the first opportunity five minutes into the game when Omar Ali Ahmed dribbled past a couple of defenders and shot. But goalkeeper Khalid Eisa dived to make a one-handed save.

Al Ain had an attempt on 16 minutes but Mohamed Abdulrahman’s header off a Mohammed Ahmed cross from the right, was off target.

Al Fujairah threatened again on 24 minutes and could have broken the deadlock after Hassan Maatouk sprinted in on a counter. But defender Mohammed Fayez, who had tailed him, made a sliding block to stop Maatouk’s cut back.

But that slide proved to be costly as Fayez hurt his hamstring and was taken off on 35 minutes, with Saeed Mosabah Salem replacing him.

A minute later, Mohammed Abdulrahman saw his left-footed volley sail over the cross bar.

Al Fujairah should have taken the lead on 40 minutes when former Al Ain man Boubacar Sanogo sent a lovely through ball to Humaid Ahmed. But Ahmed’s effort just missed the far post after Khalid Eisa had charged out.

But it was Al Ain who did from a contentious penalty scored by Asamoah Gyan in the final minute of the half after the assistant referee ruled that goalkeeper Ayyoub Al Marzouqi had brought down the Ghanian, though television replays showed it wasn’t.

With a AFC Champions League away fixture looming, Dalic decided to give his talisman Omar Abdulrahman some game time by bringing him on for Jires Kembo-Ekoko at the start of the second half.

They could have increased the lead on 53 minutes when Miroslav Stoch sent a through to Gyan but Ayyoub Al Marzouqi did well to have Gyan’s close range effort covered.

Five minutes later, Slovakian international Stoch’s screamer was punched away for a corner by Ayyoub Al Marzouqi. It all came undone though for Al Fujairah as Abdulaziz Ismail handed Al Ain the cushion by guiding a Stoch corner into his own goal, with 20 minutes left.

Gyan then rounded it off with four minutes left by tapping in Mohammed Ahmed’s grounder from the right.

james@khaleejtimes.com