Al Ain’s position in the AFC Elite Champions League became more difficult after it lost to its guest, Al Ahly Saudi Arabia, 1-2, today, Monday, in the fifth round of the tournament.
Al-Zaeem’s score froze at one point in last place, while Al-Ahly raised its score to 15 points in the lead with a full score.
Al Ain played a better first half than in previous matches, and were the most dangerous side without their goal being exposed to any real threat from the Saudi team, which was content for the first 45 minutes with its players positioning themselves in the middle of their field.
Al Ain’s danger began to appear in the 18th minute, when Sufyan Rahimi penetrated Al Ahly’s defenses before being obstructed by defender Dimbral inside the box. However, the VAR technique did not count anything for Al Ain’s benefit.
One minute later, Rahimi was alone in the Saudi team’s goal, but Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy blocked his shot the first time and it rebounded to Palacios while the goal was empty, but he shot over the crossbar.
Eric almost gave Al-Ain the lead after an organized attack led by Bandar Al-Ahbabi, when he shot the ball from close range, but Al-Ahly defender Demiral blocked it with his head as it was on its way to the net (42).
Al Ain entered the second half with the same offensive approach with which it ended the previous one, getting a fixed kick from the edge of the box, which was shot by Sufyan Rahimi into the human wall, while calling for a penalty kick.
The most prominent attack for Al Ain was when defender Kwame rose to Bandar Al-Ahbabi’s cross and headed it towards the goal, but the brilliance of Al-Ahly’s goalkeeper prevented the opportunity from turning into a goal and then turned it into a corner kick (62).
But the match turned upside down, as the Saudi team took the lead through a fixed kick played by Riyad Mahrez on the head of Ivan Toni, which he headed to the right of Khaled Issa (71).
One minute later, Ziad Al-Juhani scored another goal with a missile shot, but the goal was disallowed due to offside, but Al-Ain received another goal from Ivan Toni, taking advantage of a fatal defensive lapse created by Riyad Mahrez (74).
In stoppage time, Kaku was able to reduce the gap for Al Ain, after a rebound from the defense that he shot into the roof of the goal, “90+3.”
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