Al-Ain beat al-Ahli, win President’s Cup

There were doubts about how Al Ain would cope with a hectic schedule over the past fortnight. The Garden City Club had been juggling between the Arabian Gulf League, the title which they had already relinquished, and the AFC Champions League, where they have made it to the quarters. In between there was a friendly against English Premier League champions Manchester City. It may have been a match too many but sometimes more games can make the team a lot sharper. Also, playing against a team like Manchester City might have rubbed off some fine things on them and may have raised Al Ain's game by several notches as ‘The Boss' clinched the prestigious President's Cup at the Zayed Sports City on Sunday night. The Stadium was packed with close to 29,000 fans equally of both Al Ain and Al Ahli and Asamoah Gyan scored the match-winner as Al Ain won the final by a solitary goal. It was their sixth President's Cup title and the only this season. Their previous President's Cup title had come in the 2008-09 season. Al Ain's win denied Al Ahli a record quartet of titles after they had won the Arabian Super Cup, Arabian Gulf League and the Arabian Gulf Cup. Despite a busy few days, the first half was dominated by Al Ain. They earned a free kick as early as the third minute of play and they played out a short one. But it was closed out by the Al Ahli defence. They had another free kick from near the corner post two minutes later but Omar Abdulrahman's curler failed to make much of an impact. Al Ain were clearly in the mood for revenge and could have broken the deadlock in 13 minutes when Omar Abdulrahman conjured a crisp screamer from the left. But it didn't have enough dip on it and just whizzed over the cross bar. He was at it a minute later but Omar's effort from inside the box, went wide of the far post. There was no let-up from Al Ain as they pulled the strings in the midfield and set it up for the strikers as well as being a solid presence in the defence. They came up with the best opportunity of the half on 16 minutes when Ibrahim Diaky fired in a long ball for Asamoah Gyan, on the counter. Gyan darted in but being the lone man in, he slowed down a bit for back-up to arrive. He was reunited with Diaky, who glided in from the right but the latter failed to control it and it was cleared. Fares Juma had a chance on 31 minutes when Omar Abdulrahman sent in a chipped in free kick but Ciel headed it for a corner at the right post to deny Juma. But Al Ain landed the first punch a minute later with their prolific scorer Gyan giving the finishing touch to a fine move. Mohammed Fayez chugged in from the left and floated in a cross. The ball took a deflection of Al Ahli's Basheer Saeed and fell in Omar's path, who was stationed at the left post. Omar cleverly drew the goalkeeper Saif Yousif out and passed it to an unmarked Gyan, who tapped it home. Al Ain could have gone in with a two-goal cushion into the break when Gyan darted down the right and drew Saif Yousif out. Gyan then passed it to Omar who had slipped through into the middle but Walid Abbas headed it out for a corner. Al Ain began in the same vein at the start of the second half as Omar made his way in but his effort deflected off Abdelaziz Sanqour and went for a corner. But it was not all Al Ain in the second half as Al Ahli, who failed to turn up in the first half and were also made to keep quiet by a spirited Al Ain, staged a brilliant fight back. Ciel came close on 51 minutes as he sprinted down the left after he received a ball from the middle. But his wild attempt went over the cross bar. Two minutes later, Omar Abdulrahman and Basheer Saeed mocked each other as the former was trying to make his way past. Omar managed to get through but he touched Basheer as he went past and did a bit of play acting by falling down. As his teammates surrounded the referee Ammar Ali Abdulla Al Jneibi, Omar was back on his feet and raised his arms, asking the crowd to cheer. The referee then flashed a yellow to Basheer Saeed. It was a frantic last 35 minutes as Al Ahli threw the kitchen sink in search of the equaliser that would keep them in the game. Source: Khaleej Times