Al Ain in quarters; Al Wasl stay afloat
12
Points from 5 matches for Al Ain as they top Group B
fujairah — Caio scored twice and assisted once in Al Ain’s impressive 3-1 victory over Fujairah at Fujairah Stadium on Monday to seal a place in the Arabian Gulf Cup quarterfinals.
Al Ain started on the front foot, when Fujairah goalkeeper Abdaulla Al Tamimi scuffled with Jamal Al Blooshi inside the box. Caio calmly converted the resultant spot kick after 23rd minute. Just five minutes before the halftime whistle, the Wolves responded through Mohamed Benyettou, who got at the end of Khaleifah Al Saadi’s leftfooted cross. The forward’s initial header hit the woodwork, before skying the rebound over the bar.
On the stroke of the hour, Caio skillfully controlled Sulaiman Al Ameri’s long through pass to set up Al Blooshi, who had to simply tap in from a close range.
Caio was once again at heart of attack for the Boss, when he went in a one-on-one situation with Al Tamimi, after a defence-splitting one-two pass with Mohamed Younes. The Brazilian’s right-footed curler nestled into the top corner, making it 3-0 for the visitors. Four minutes from time, Ahmad Sabah pulled one back for the hosts, as his weak shot crept past Hamad Al Mansoori after it got deflected off Al Ain’s defender.
Al Ain topped Group B with 12 points from five matches.
In another match at the Rashid bin Saeed Stadium in Ajman, Fabio De Lima scored late as Al Wasl earned a 1-0 win over Ajman. The game got off to a quiet start, with Ajman having a slight advantage on ball possession. Both sides failed to create any real chances in the first 45 minutes as they headed into the tunnel locked at 0-0.
Around the one-hour mark, Fabio De Lima forced Ajman’s keeper Hamad Khalid into a fine save to keep the game goalless. Al Wasl continued to pile on the pressure as substitute Alfarsi was denied by Khalid in the 78th minute.
The guests’ pressure finally paid off as Fabio De Lima opened the scoring seven minutes from time in a dramatic fashion. Ajman’s keeper saved Fabio De Lima shot from outside the box before Brazilian Vinicius Lima dribbled past the keeper and sent another shot that it hit the woodwork. However, his fellow countryman Fabio De Lima tapped home the rebound amid protests from the Ajman players.
Al Wasl replaced Ajman in fourth place in Group A as they now have four points from four games, while the Oranges slipped to fifth on four points, after five games.