Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, could not have wished for a better result ahead of his team’s Asian Champions League second leg semi-final against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia after a 4-0 romp last night against Ajman in the domestic Arabian Gulf League.
Mohammed Abdulrahman and Miraslav Stoch were on target in the first half while Asamoah Gyan and Mohammed Fawzi scored after the break for Al Ain at the Rashid bin Saeed stadium.
“Tonight we played for the three points, and to build the confidence of our players,” Dalic said.
“We were not thinking about the Hilal match when we travelled to Ajman, but this result certainly will do a world of good for the players ahead of that game.”
The margin of victory could have been more had Al Ain scored from half the chances they created.
Dalic may have not been looking for a bigger scoreline either as he seemed to ease on the pedal by making all three substitutions after the 3-0 lead. Perhaps, his thoughts were already on the ACL return leg.
“The three points was as important than the margin of victory,” the Croatian said.
“We have a very tough task to turn around a 3-0 lead (in the ACL), and I hope this result will help to motivate the players.”
The scoring began when Jires Kembo Ekoko sent a low long pass for Gyan to have a dash and collect on the right side of the box, before slipping it towards Abdulrahman to slot it in on his follow-through from the top of the goalmouth.
The scorer then turned the creator from a counter attack. Mohammed Abdulrahman sent Kembo-Ekoko dashing inside the box and his cross towards Gyan touched the back-heel of the retrieving Ajman defender Ahmed Salem and fell in the path of Stoch, who had time to aim and shoot to double the lead.
Gyan, the league’s top scorer in the past three seasons, made it two goals in two games when he slotted home a Kembo Ekoko pass before substitute Fawzi tapped in a short pass from Gyan in added time to complete the rout.
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Star performer – Jires Kembo Ekoko
The Congolese winger had a hand in all three goals. He was a threat every time he had the ball at his feet, running powerfully and with deceptive speed on both flanks to feed his forwards with quality passes.
Underperformer – Waleed Ahmed
Missed an early sitter when set up inside the box with a superb pass by the Ivorian forward Boris Kabi but the Emirati midfielder sent his shot wide.
Key moment
Two goals within three minutes set the platform for Al Ain. They were wasteful until that time and pressure was mounting until the deadlock was broken by Mohammed Abdulrahman.
Ajman rating – 4/10
Ajman were wasteful as much as Al Ain were early in the first half but, unlike their opponents, they cannot afford to miss such opportunities.
Al Ain rating – 8/10
They created several early chances but eventually got their act together for two quick scores late in the first half to have the three points in the bag.
The National’s verdict
A second win in four days will keep the Al Ain camp in a positive mood ahead of their Asian Champions League semi-final return leg on Tuesday. The result and the performance last night was an improvement on their 2-0 result over Al Wasl in the opener.
apassela@thenational.ae
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