Abu Dhabi: Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic was pleased to see his team bag three vital points against Al Dhafra to get their Arabian Gulf League campaign back on track on Friday, but added he was worried about star striker Asamoah Gyan, who was stretchered off in the dying minutes at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
Goals from Miroslav Stoch, Jires Kembo-Ekoko and Mohanad Salem saw Al Ain win 3-1 to swell their points tally to nine points. Saif Mohammad responded for Al Dhafra, who suffered their first defeat of the season to remain on five points.
“We were well aware that the contest would not be easy. We lost several players in the last two weeks as they were on national duty. It was only the day before the match that some of them managed to join the team. Asamoah Gyan, in fact, arrived in the morning. The situation was not good but we dealt with the circumstances well,” said a delighted Dalic after the match.
Gyan, who came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute, seemed to have picked up an injury to his left thigh after colliding with Al Dhafra keeper Abdullah Sultan.
“I hope the injury to Gyan is not that serious. However, we will get only a clear picture of it after he undergoes the necessary medical examinations. I used him only during a specific period of play for 20 minutes or so because he was coming straight after playing friendlies for his national team,” added Dalic.
“I think the defence did a very good job despite Al Dhafra having some quality strikers. We did concede a goal but we will continue our work on it.”
Al Ain midfielder Ebrahim Diaky was also pleased with the result and felt the team should build on it in the coming games.
“It was a good win after that loss against Al Jazira [4-3 on October 5]. I’m very happy for the team but I’m very sad for what happened to Asa [Gyan]. Hope he recovers in time for our next game,” Diaky said.
Al Dhafra’s Senegalese forward Makhete Diop was dejected with his side’s showing but vowed the team would come back strongly in their next game against Al Ahli on October 23.
“We should have registered a couple of wins in the previous matches, which we ended up drawing. We have started to work hard and today [Friday] in the first half we played well for about 30 minutes. Now we have to quickly put the loss behind us and look ahead. It is difficult for us to make amends in the league. We will fight and register some victories,” he said.
