Jazira strike two late goals to sink Al Ain
abu dhabi — Class acts from Yaqoub Al Hosani and Leonardo Pereira saw Al Jazira come from behind to beat Al Ain 2-1 in the round six of the Arabian Gulf League match at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Saturday night.
Contest between Al Ain and Al Jazira are fiercely fought and this was no different. Al Ain fans ‘Ainawi’ served warning before the match with ‘Nightmare’ tifo.
However, in opening minutes it was all Al Jazira. In seven minutes, midfielder Khalfan Mubarak brilliantly sneaked into Al Ain danger area but was denied by an alert Khalid Eissa. And three minutes later Al Jazira’s Ghana striker Ernest Asante’s shot was saved by Eissa.
Amid Al Jazira’s raids, Al Ain turned tables as Mohamed Abdulrahman supplied a sublime pass into the box and Marcus Berg harried to curl the ball into far end of the post beyond Ali Khaseif. Defenders Fares Juma and Khalifa Al Hammadi were left bewildered by Berg’s foresight.
Both teams deployed a tight offside line. In 44 minutes, Al Ain’s Bandar Al Ahbabi broke through ranks to score but VAR (virtual assistant referee) caught him offside. It was second instance of goal being disallowed through VAR with earlier one in first match between Al Wahda and Al Dhafra.
In 55 minutes, Al Jazira lost a great opportunity as Leonardo won a ball from Juma but failed to beat Eissa. The visitors continued to push and create chances and finally scored.
In 85 minutes, Leonardo converted a long-range free kick. The sensational goal levelled the score and shifted the momentum entirely towards Al Jazira. And four minutes later Al Hosani netted the winner.
Al Hosani ran unchallenged from the midfield to Al Ain goal. With defenders were focusing on Asante, Al Hosani smashed the ball into back from a difficult angle.
Two world-class finishes at the end saw Al Jazira grab victory from jaws of defeat. Al Ain defenders’ laxity and lack of movement led to conceding both goals. With this result, ‘The Pride of Abu Dhabi’ push Al Ain ‘Boss’ to third spot and occupy second place.