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Al Ain get second AFC Champions League group win with 2-1 victory over Al Rayyan of Qatar

Goals from Jires Kembo-Ekoko and Alex Brosque sealed a 2-1 victory for Al Ain over Qatar’s Al Rayyan at the Tahnoun bin Mohamed Stadium on Wednesday night; their second win in Group D of the AFC Champions League. The result moves Al Ain temporarily to the top of the group, pending the result of Al Hilal v Esteghlal later tonight, with the UAE team sitting on six points.

Both teams came out of the blocks quickly as Al Rayyan threatened Al Ain’s goal as early as the 8th minute and Alex Brosque’s shot for the home side went close two minutes later. In the 21st minute Al Ain’s Romanian midfielder Radoi sent a free kick to the right of goal in one of the most dangerous chances of the first half, before Jires Kembo-Ekoko struck a good attempt from outside the penalty area. Despite Al Ain’s chances, it was Al Rayyan who got their noses in front in the 32nd minute as Nilmar Da Silva exploited a goalkeeping error to put the Saudi Arabian side 1-0 up. But there lead was not to last long as Al Ain hit back almost immediately, returning to level terms when playmaker Omar Abdulrahman’s pass found Kembo-Ekoko in the box and the French striker made no mistake with his shot, making it 1-1 in the 34th minute. Nilmar had a great chance to put Al Rayyan in front again just before the stroke of half time as the Brazilian cleverly beat the offside trap, but his shot rose just over the crossbar to keep the half-time score at 1-1.

Al Ain turned the heat up in the second half, dominating play and threatening to take the lead, with Brosque, Kembo-Ekoko and Omar Abdulrahman causing problems for the Al Rayyan defense. In the 57th minute Ismail Ahmed almost scored from an Omar Abdulrahman corner but Al Rayyan’s goalkeeper made a fingertip save, diverting the ball for another corner. In the 70th minute it was the Australian attacker Alex Brosque who finally made the difference, neatly controlling an assist from Omar Abdulrahman on his chest and dispatching his shot to give Al Ain a 2-1 lead. Helal Saeed attempted to extend the lead further in the 78th minute but Al Rayyan’s goalkeeper was equal to his effort, and the UAE side held on to claim a 2-1 win.