Al Ain, the defending champion, returned with a 1-1 draw from the match that brought it together with its host Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan, yesterday, for the sixth round of the AFC Elite Champions League.
This result made it difficult for Al-Ain to reach the second stage of the tournament, after it had only two points in 11th place, with two matches remaining against Al-Rayyan of Qatar and Al-Shorta of Iraq.
Al Ain entered the match against Pakhtakor, demanding a victory to revive its hopes of qualifying, so it rushed into the attack early, and Laba Kodjo missed the opportunity to advance after receiving a cross from Mohamed Abbas, while he was at the goal gate, but the ball passed over his head in the “4th” minute.
In the fifth minute, Al-Zaeem’s net conceded the first goal after a counterattack launched by Adhamzoda from the left side, and he shot a strong ball that was cleared by the goalkeeper, Khaled Issa, but Yurkuzyev completed it with his header into the goal, in the clear absence of the defenders.
The attacking attempts by the Pakhtakor team posed a real threat to Khaled Issa’s goal, and from one of them he had a dangerous opportunity after the ball reached Abdulmanuyov, without him being monitored, but he shot outside the field “19”.
Al Ain’s performance declined in the last quarter of an hour of the first half, and on more than one occasion they almost conceded a goal had it not been for the skill of the goalkeeper, Khaled Issa, who made a solo save from Yurkozyev, to preserve his team’s chances in the match.
Al Ain succeeded, after the half-time break, in achieving an equalizer thanks to its striker, Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi, who hit the Pakhtakor defense from the middle of the field, and penetrated to put the ball to the right of the Uzbek goalkeeper (48).
But Al-Zaeem was not very happy with this goal, as his player, Yahya Nader, received the red card in the 55th minute, after interference from the “mouse” technique.
The numerical deficiency did not greatly affect the performance of Al-Ain, which tried to reach the second goal. Laba Kodjo missed the most dangerous opportunity of this half, after a cross he received from Bandar Al-Ahbabi, but he headed the ball near the post (68).
Then, Sufyan Rahimi missed an opportunity to score alone on goal, but goalkeeper Nazarov shone and cleared the ball for a corner kick (71).
Luck once again abandoned Laba Kodjo, who rose to Bandar Al-Ahbabi’s cross before the Uzbek goalkeeper, and headed the ball over, but it strayed out of the net (75).
Before the end, Kwame missed a goal opportunity from a ball he followed while he was close to the goal, but it hit the feet of the Uzbek goalkeeper, ending the match in a positive 1-1 draw.
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