Goalkeeper Sulaiman the hero in Al Ain cup win
Al Ain goalkeeper scores the winning penalty in 5-4 shootout win in Super Cup
Dubai: Goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman was the hero for last season’s league champions Al Ain after scoring the winning penalty for his side in their 5-4 penalty shootout Etisalat Super Cup win over Al Jazira last night.
Sulaiman fired home his spot-kick into the top left-hand corner of the net and then saw Salem Mahsoud hit the post, earning his side their first silverware of the new season.
The match, held at Zabeel Stadium, had finished 0-0 after 90 minutes and had gone straight to penalties.
Al Ain had had the best of the opening chances in normal time, though. Yacoub Tousuf’s through ball and cross to Asamoah Gyan, within the first ten minutes, were both saved by Ali Khaseif, while Faris Juma curled an effort over the bar after latching onto Mirel Radoi’s pass.
Then Jires Ekoko weaved through the Jazira defence and shot straight at Khaseif 20 minutes in, but Al Jazira’s Ricardo Oliveira came closest to breaking the deadlock near the half-hour mark, lobbing ‘keeper Sulaiman after taking Ebrahim Diaky’s long ball in his stride.
Gyan then shot wide from Ekoko’s pass, while Oliveira’s chip went over the bar, leaving the score goalless at half-time.
Early in the second half Ekoko rounded the defence after being played in by Gyan, but was blocked on goal by Khaseif, then up the other end Fernandinho was ruled offside from Oliveira’s knock-on.
Omar Abdul Rahman missed Al Ain’s best chance on the hour when he struck a shot wide off the post. Then Gyan, running on to Radoi’s chip, collided with the advancing Khaseif, although there was no protest for a penalty from his teammates.
Jazira had a similar scenario where they could have had a penalty when Mohanad Salem felled Fernandinho in the box, and then Gyan had a goal ruled offside as the game approached the final ten minutes.
Goalless after 90 minutes, the game went straight to penalties, with the end facing Jazira fans chosen for the ultimate test of nerve.
And, after a topsy-turvy, nerve-shredding shootout, Sulaiman kept his nerve to slot home from 12 yards to help his side start the new football campaign as they finished last season — with a trophy to their name.
