Abu Dhabi: With a last-minute equaliser, Syrian forward Omar Al Soma completed his brace and saw Saudi outfits Al Ahli pull out a stunning draw against Al Ain in the Group C fixture of the AFC Champions at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.
For Al Ain, Ismail Ahmed provided the early goal and Omar Abdul Rahman completed the tally by scoring off a penalty.
Both teams had written a similar script when they had met in Jeddah earlier in the first leg. With this result, Al Ahli, now occupy the top spot with eight points while Al Ain has slipped to third in the standings. The purple brigade, now have six points from four outings and are behind Iran’s Zob Ahan, who have seven points following their 2-1 win over bottom-placed Bunyodkor.
The hosts took the lead in as early as in the sixth minute from a corner. A long from Ahmed Barman found ace playmaker Abdul Rahman who headed the ball for an overlapping Ahmed to tap home from close range.
In the 20th minute, a fine effort from Abdul Rahman after being set by Brazilian striker Caio, was well kept out by Al Ahli’s robust custodian Yasser Al Mosailem. Al Ahli started to press more and their players like Abdulafttah Asiri, Taiseer Al Jassam and Al Soma came close to scoring a couple of times.
Finally, the visitors managed to draw level in the 43rd minute through a corner. Greek winger Ioannis Fetfatzidis’s release was nodded back by Mohammed Al Fatil and Al Soma just had to stick his head to find the goal.
With the scores tied at the breather, both sides showed far more purpose after the change of ends. As Al Ain pressed to seize back the initiative, Al Ahli threatened through counter attacks.
In the 53rd minute, Al Ahli’s Al Soma’s left-footed effort found the bottom of the left vertical following a measure cross from Saeed Al Muwallad. Immediately after that effort, Al Ain’s Caio’s attempt was well blocked by Al Mosailem.
If it was Abdul Rahman who was troubling the opposition and creating opportunities for the hosts, Al Soma did the same for Al Ahli. For either sides, the efforts from both these high profile players somehow repeatedly failed to bear fruit.
Lot has been said about Al Mosailem’s tremendous ability under the bar as he had already made 24 saves from 26 shots on target in the tournament this season. Al Mosailem kept giving enough evidence of keeping his fortress intact and the 82nd minute reflex save of substitute Ibrahim Diaky header from the centre of the box was a testimony to it.
Finally, it needed a penalty to breach Al Mosailem’s guard. Al Soma stuck his hand to block a low header from Mohanad Salem and referee pointed it out to the spot. Abdul Rahman was simply too good to miss out on that opportunity and he sent Al Mosailem on the wrong with a left-footed effort.
With that late goal, it looked as if Al Ain would walk away with the win but Al Soma had other plans. He compensated for his earlier error by himself getting into the scoring act a minute from time. The breathtaking left-footed volley from outside the box off a poor clearance settled in the bottom right corner and Al Ahli managed to pull out a sensational 2-2 draw.
