Al Ain gain valuable ACL point in Iran

Al Ain manager Zlatko Dalic was “deeply satisfied” with the away point earned from a 2-2 result against Tractor Sazi of Iran in the Asian Champions League Group C, writes Amith Passela.

Al Ain’s Alex Brosque, left, controls the ball despite pressure from Tractor Sazi’s Morteza Asadi during their match on Tuesday night in Iran. AFP

Tractor Sazi 2 Al Ain 2

Tractor Sazi Daghighi 20', Ahmadzadeh 61'

Al Ain Gyan 54', M Abdulrahman 59'

Man of the match Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain)

Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, was "deeply satisfied" with the away point earned in Tabriz on Tuesday night from a 2-2 result against Tractor Sazi of Iran in the Asian Champions League Group C.

Saeed Daghighi drew first blood for Tractor to lead 1-0 at half time. Asamoah Gyan and Mohammed Abdulrahman scored twice within three minutes for Al Ain to get their noses ahead but Farshad Ahmadzadeh struck two minutes later.

“Our approach, like always, is to win but the draw was good enough for us because it keeps us above Tractor,” said Dalic, whose side beat Tractor 3-1 in their home tie last month.

“We had to play in cold weather and it took some time for our players to adapt to the conditions. After a tough first half we came back strongly after the break and created a lot of chances, and could have even won.”

Daghighi headed in a corner from Ali Karimi but the visitors did well to deny their hosts for the remainder of the half with some excellent defending.

Gyan cancelled Tractor’s lead when he darted inside the box to head home a long ball from Omar Abdulrahman.

The diminutive midfielder then sent an overhead pass for his older brother Mohammed to collect the ball, turn around, and calmly tap it past goalkeeper Hamed Lak.

Al Ain’s joy was short lived as just two minutes later Ahmadzadeh cancelled the lead when he found the roof of the net after sliding past the visitors’ defence.

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