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Al Ahli back to winning ways with 3-0 victory over Kalba

Quique Flores’ men got back on track with a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling Kalba, which saw Al Ahli in cruise control on Saturday night at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai. The win keeps Al Ahli in 4th place but increases their points total to 33, whilst Kalba remain second from bottom with 10 points; the same total as fellow strugglers Dibba Fujairah and Al Shaab.

Al Ahli set out to get back to winning ways, and they made their intent clear within the first fifteen minutes as Ahmad Khalil caused trouble for Kalba’s defense. The UAE national team striker was taken out by Kalba’s goalkeeper, who didn’t get anything on the ball, and the referee pointed to the spot. Grafite stepped up to dispatch the spot kick in the 14th minute, making it 1-0 to Al Ahli and scoring his 20th goal of the season; just one behind the League’s top scorer Asamoah Gyan.

Kalba were not without any attacking threat, as they mustered up a few shots on target, with the most notable coming from Edward Sadomba. But Al Ahli continued to prove their strength, particularly going forward with the dangerous Ismael Al Hammadi, Grafite and Ahmad Khalil constantly causing problems, and showing their capabilities even without the injured Ricardo Quaresma and Luis Jiminez in attack. It was Ahmad Khalil who moved Al Ahli a step closer to victory in the 34th minute, staking a claim to keep his place in the starting lineup even when the absent attackers return. Khalil was set away by a pass from Al Hammadi, and the striker finished coolly with his left foot, rolling the ball across goal and slotting home to put his side 2-0 up, and this was how the score remained at half time.

Kalba almost caught Al Ahli off-guard at the restart, as Sadomba found himself in a good position less than a minute into the second half, but the Zimbabwean striker scuffed his shot and the opportunity was lost. From that moment on, Al Ahli dictated play and could have extended their lead even further as Grafite’s tight-angle shot struck the post in the 50th minute, and three minutes later Kalba goalkeeper Mohamed Salim had to be alert to save from the Brazilian target man again. Ismael Al Hammadi and Ahmad Khalil also continued to threaten, both registering shots on target, but they couldn’t add a third goal to kill the game off. Kalba stirred and forced Al Ahli goalkeeper Majed Nasser into a flying save when Abdullah Al Jamhi launched a piledriver of a shot from distance in the 64th minute, only to be substituted a minute later as French midfielder Gregory Dufrennes entered the fray after an injury layoff. For Al Ahli, Majed Hassan was forced to withdraw with injury in the 68th minute, replaced by Ali Hussain.

Al Ahli’s pressure finally paid off as they added a third goal in the 75th minute. The ever-productive Al Hammadi set Grafite away down the right, and the Brazilian did well to square the ball through the keeper’s legs and across the face of goal from the byline, leaving the onrushing Adnan Hussain to score a simple tap-in and make it 3-0 to the home side. Kalba defender Talal Abdulla was injured in the process, and came off to be replaced by Idriss Fawzi. Al Ahli continued to stream forward, looking for a fourth, and Ismael Al Hammadi launched a stinging shot in the 81st minute but he didn’t get the goal his hard work deserved before being substituted late on in exchange for Abdulla Ali. Grafite again went close to adding to the tally, but Kalba’s ‘keeper got a hand to his ambitious lob seven minutes from time, and Kalba tried to record a consolation goal two minutes from the end but a double-block prevented them and the game finished 3-0 to Al Ahli.