Omar stars in crucial win for Al Ain

Abu Dhabi: A free-kick conversion by star player Omar Abdul Rahman helped Al Ain to keep their Champions League hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium yesterday.

Al Ain had to win the contest as they were at the bottom of the table following their loss to Qatar’s Al Jaish, 2-1 away and 2-1 at home. However, Zlatko Dalic’s side despite being under pressure, played some aggressive football all through and did not let the intensity dip till the end to script a win.

Desperate to seize the early initiative, Al Ain did everything in the powers but failed to get the breakthrough in the first half. Brazilians Fellipe Bastos, Douglas and the ever reliable Abdul Rahman raid the rival territory at will but somehow were kept at bay by the Al Ahli defence.

After some long range effort from Bastos was well negotiated by the Al Ahli custodian Yasser Al Mosailem, the home side almost came close to scoring in the 37th minute.

A free-kick from Abdul Rahman, from the top of the box, left the Al Ahli custodian Mosailem and the defence wall rooted but the ball found the framework on its way.

After the change of ends, the visitors showed far more purpose but couldn’t post much of a threat for Al Ain. In the 65th minute, Omar Al Soman had Al Ain custodian Khalid Eissa in a spot of bother but the former ended up shooting the ball into the side netting.

The match winner for Al Ain came in the 72nd minute after Colombian winger Danilo Asprilla, who came in as a substitute, was brought down just outside the box. Another free-kick, from a similar position as the first and Abdul Rahman was too good to miss out on that second opportunity. This time he shot around the Al Ahli defense wall and the ball after brushing from the post settled into the goal to trigger wild celebrations amongst the Al Ain fans.

Credit should also go to Mohanad Salem who smartly pushed an Al Ahli defender from the trajectory of that shot from Abdul Rahman.

In the 81st minute, Al Ain almost came close to double the lead when Asprilla dribbled past a couple of Ahli defenders before setting Ibrahim Diaky with a measured diagonal. However, Diaky’s deflection found the defender in its way. Thereafter, Al Ain sealed their defenses and made sure to hold on to their one-goal advantage till the final whistle.

With three more matches to go, Al Ain will have to build on this momentum and win at least two matches to fancy any chance of a place in the knockouts.