Dubai: With their title-defence in a disarray, Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu was left fuming over a refereeing blunder that saw his side being denied what appeared to be a certain penalty.
Al Ahli went down 1-2 to city rivals Al Nasr late on Friday and Olaroiu was left to lament some of the decisions that came from referee Abdullah Al Za’abi. One of those was what Cosmin termed a ‘100 per cent sure’ penalty after striker Ahmad Khalil was shoved down in the first half as he controlled the ball.
“It’s small decisions like this that make all the difference in a match. What can I say about the referee’s decision? You have all watched the match and it is up to you to decide. After 10 rounds of the league, Al Ahli are the only team that have been awarded just one penalty. That says it all,” Olaroiu told media at the post-match conference.
However, the Romanian, under whose leadership the Red Knights won three of the four trophies on offer last season, stressed that his team are not ready to give up on their title aspirations. “The race is still on and we are ready for a fight till the end. We suffered due to a wrong decision by the referee. As a team we learn from the mistakes we make, so why can’t the referees too learn from their past mistakes?” the Romanian queried.
Friday’s loss was the third one for Al Ahli along with another four draws against smaller teams. “Yes we have lost points to smaller teams, but I see no need to panic or despair. We just need to continue playing our game and the results will come in due course,” Olaroui promised.
