Al Ain turn on the heat to clinch Arabian Gulf Super Cup

Al Ain players after winning the Arabian Gulf Super Cup.

Asamoah Gyan's are indeed big shoes to fill and the jury will continue to be out sometime yet. But going by Emmanuel Emenike's showing on Saturday night, the Nigerian internaitonal is turning out to be a fine replacement for the Ghanian.
The 28-year-old fired a brace in his first competitive game as Al Ain ran roughshod against Al Nasr to clinch their fifth Arabian Gulf Super Cup, and their third in the professional era.
In what was a sweltering night at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, the Blue Wave were hit by a heat wave from 'The Boss.' Al Ain ran out 4-2 victors.
The Garden City added to the season-opening Super Cups won in 1994, 2002, 2009 and 2012.
Emenike had given Al Ain the lead, as early as four minutes but Al Nasr made things interesting with the equaliser from Jamal Maroof, five minutes after the break.
Al Ain retook the lead through Mohammed Fayez on 67 minutes after which Emenike got his second two minutes later. Ismail Ahmed then headed a corner 10 minutes from time. Al Nasr reduced the margin in stoppage time through substitute Rashed Mohammed Omar but it was a tad too late to mount a fight back.
It was not just Emenike, who shone on his debut in the UAE. Dutchman Ryan Babel, the former Ajax and Liverpool winger was impressive and made a fine assist for the opening goal. Brazilian playmaker Fellipe Bastos too weighed in with a stellar performance, and was instrumental in Al Ain scoring the second and third goals.
Despite the good showing, Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic was not too happy and expected more from his foreign contingent.
"I have to be honest I'm not too happy with how my team played but what was important was the result. I want more and I want better from the foreign players, especially Ryan Babel. They are working well but they need time. I expect more from them," Dalic said after the game.
Nevertheless, Dalic thanked his team as well as Al Nasr as well as the fans from both clubs for attending the game at the stadium despite the searing temperatures.
"I would like to congratulate my team and everyone who attend today, both the Al Ain and Al Nasr fans. The hot weather was the biggest point for both teams as well as the fans. We scored an early goal and tried to control the game. We didn't have the same intensity during a few moments and that happens. And Al Nasr fought back.
"We made changes in the second half and managed to score three goals. It is great to open the season with the trophy. It will be a good stepping stone for the future. It is a great for us and a great result because it is the first game of the season, the Super Cup. It will be a big motivation for us," added the Croatian.
Meanwhile Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic was obviously disappointed.
 "I want to congratulate Al Ain on winning the Super Cup. It was a good and interesting game throughout the 90 minutes. It was a balanced game with chances for both teams," Jovanovic said after the game.
"The reason we lost the game was when we equalised in the second half, we conceded two quick goals in a short period of time after that. That made things difficult for us. Of course, we are disappointed by this result. We wanted to win the Super Cup. But I cannot complain. My players gave their best throughout the game," he added.
Jovanovic said that errors cost them the game. "Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes play a great role in football and every mistake we made today, we conceded a goal. It is difficult when you are control the game and you concede two quick goals. And we were playing against a quality team who can take advantage of any mistakes," said the Serbian.
james@khaleejtimes.com