Abu Dhabi: Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic was more than pleased with his side’s 3-0 result against Fujairah in the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday at their home ground in Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
The Boss have now moved to the top of the table with 39 points and both his star players Omar Abdul Rahman and Asamoah Gyan were also back in the scheme of things ahead of their Asian Champions League away clash against Naft Tehran on Tuesday.
After being on the sidelines with injury for four weeks, Omar came in place of Jires Kembo-Ekoko in the second half and looked his old self. Gyan too had a brace against his name after coming into the side serving his national team Ivory Cost in the African Cup of Nations.
“It was important to win the three points and get this game out of the way as we have a flight to catch tomorrow evening,” said an elated Dalic adding: “We can take a lot of positives forward from this game. It was our first win in three games after losing to Fujairah and the draw against Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia in the ACL. We didn’t concede a goal in the last two matches, and with this result we go on top of the league table. It was good to see Gyan scoring again and Omar back in action.”
Dalic reiterated that the team won’t be under any sort of pressure now that they have managed to move to the top of the table.
“I don’t think being at the top will pose any pressure on the players but on the contrary will boost their self-confidence and it increases their morale,” said Dalic, who might miss the services of winger Kembo-Ekoko and defender Mohammed Fayez, who had to leave to field due to injuries.
“They look doubtful for the next game but I hope they will return to the team soon,” revealed Dalic who was also all praise for his custodian Khaled Issa, who was exceptional under the bar.
“Everyone performed well especially goalkeeper Khaled Issa. He came up with a brilliant save early in the game which was crucial,” said Dalic, who was confident that the recent success would be a huge shot in the arm of his players ahead of their clash against Naft Tehran.
“I want the players to look for inspirations from this match. It won’t be easy and but we are going their upbeat and hopefully we will be able to get the desired result,” revealed Dalic.
Fujairah coach Ivan Hasek felt that his team didn’t latch on to opportunities and that cost them the game. “Had we scored early, the game would have been different. We cannot afford to miss even half chances when we play teams like Al Ain. That’s what happened tonight. We started well and created a couple of scoring opportunities, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” said Hasek.
