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Al Jazira held to a goalless draw; Al Ahli win 2-1

 

Al Jazira were held to a goalless draw by Al Gharafa of Qatar in their first match in the 2011 Asian Champions League played tonight at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The two teams are playing in group "A" along with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Foolad Sepahan from Iran. They demonstrated a balanced game and created a number of scoring opportunities but all their attempts were in vain. The visiting team came close to net an early goal in the 26th minute but Amra Diani's shot was deflected by Al Jazira's custodian Ali Khusaif to a corner.

The hosts controlled the game after the break for a few minutes making some good efforts but the visitors' defenders spoiled all their attempts. They missed a sitter in the 60 minute when Brazilian player Bare sent a lovely pass to his countryman Delgado inside the box for the goalie Gasim Burhan saved bravely. Al Jazira came to threaten their rivals two minutes later through Delgado who collected the ball inside the six yard area, rounded up the advancing goalkeeper before sending the ball into the empty net, but for his bad fortune defender Marconi jumped high to deflect it to a corner. The two squads went on their attempts looking for the first goal but they failed to hit the back of the net. But the most dangerous chance in the match was squandered by Al Gharafa's striker Younis Mahmoud from Iraq when his perfect header rebounded off the upright in the 71st minute and his teammate Ahmad Ali also missed another chance one minute to time when he squeezed from the right flank but his volley was saved by Al Jazira's goalkeeper Ali Khusaif.

On the other hand Al Ahli beat Al Arabi of Kuwait at Sabah Stadium 2-1 to collect three valuable points. Abdulaziz Haikal put the visitors in the lead only 11 minutes into the game and Ali Magseed leveled the score for the hosts in the 83rd minute. Faisal Khalil secured the result for Al Ahli when he drove the ball home two minutes into injury time.

In the third match of the day played in the same competition, Al Dhafra lost to Al Arabi of Qatar at Grand Hamad Stadium by a solitary goal. Argentinean player Leonardo Pisclichi scored the all-important goal of the match. Two of Al Dhafra players were shown the red card in the last minutes. Mohammed Al Sayed was given a straight red card five minutes before the final whistle and his colleague Ahmad Abdullah was given marching orders after collecting two yellow cards in the 92nd minute.