Al Ain beat top-flight Moroccan club Wydad on penalties

Abu Dhabi - Dutchman Ryan Babel was pleased to win his first trophy with his new club Al Ain and said that it was their fighting qualities which shone on the night.

Record 12-time Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ain won a thrilling friendly fixture against Moroccan top flight club Wydad Casablanca at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco, on Saturday night.
'The Boss' won the Morocco/UAE Super Cup 5-4 on penalties after both teams were locked 3-3 at the end of regulation time.
"Happy to win first trophy with my new team... was a very hard game but the spirit won it for us," Babel said on Twitter on Saturday night.
"Respect to the Moroccan fans who were amazing the whole game and also after the loss," added the 28-year-old former Ajax and Liverpool winger, who joined from Turkish side Kasimpasa.
Meanwhile, defender Mohanad Salem too was thrilled to end their pre-season tour on a high. "I'm so happy that we were able to win the Cup. The team put in a good performance and we showed our fighting qualities," Salem said.
Al Ain rounded off their pre-season training camp with a win. The Garden City Club had lost three friendly fixtures and had drawn one on the tour.
Zlatko Dalic's men had lost by a solitary goal to Uzbekistan club Locomotiv, before being blanked 4-0 by Championship side Hull City. They then went on to lose 2-1 to Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal 2-1 before being held goalless by Qatar's Al Sadd.
Star playmaker, who had scored Al Ain's opening goal in regulation time, was on target with the first penalty, before new signing Fellipe Bastos missed his spot kick.
Omar's brother Mohammed was spot on and so was Ismail Ahmed and new recruit Emmanuel Emenike, who scored his first goal in Al Ain colours. Then, former Al Wasl man Rashid Essa made no mistake with the final spot kick.
Youssef Rabeh, Salaheddine Saidi, Ibrahim Nakkach and Mohammad Onajem were on target for Wydad Casablanca, while Yassine El Kordi and Walid Kerty's attempts were saved by Al Ain shot-stopper Khalid Eisa.
Earlier, 13-time Botola Pro champions Wydad Casablanca had gone ahead through Abdellatif Noussir on eight minutes but Al Ain equalised on 18 minutes through Omar Abdulrahman, who curled his freekick, from the left of the box, into the right of the net.
Wydad Casablanca retook the lead again through Fabrice N'Guessi on 26 minutes but Lee Myung-Joo cancelled it out with a brilliant shot from the tip of the box, just a minute before half-time.
Al Ain could have taken the lead just a minute after the break but Emenike couldn't convert from a one-on-one situation after  latching onto a long ball.
Amine Attouchi scored an own goal 10 minutes after the restart to give Al Ain the lead but Salaheddine Saidi kept Wydad Casablanca in the game by restoring parity, eight minutes from time.
james@khaleejtimes.com