News Center

Ismail saves the day for Al Ain with a last minute goal

 

Al Ain team were lucky enough to snatch a valuable point when their advancing defender Ismail Ahmad scored the equalizer with a perfect header that beat Bani Yas' goalkeeper Mohammad Ali Gholoom in the third minute of the injury time of their Etisalat Pro-League Round 17 game played on Sunday evening at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Qattara. The hosts were one goal down till the dying moments before Ismail succeeded in bringing the game back to the first square to level the score in the 93rd minute to end the match with a 1-1 draw. Al Ain's hapless keeper Waleed Salim committed a severe blunder eight minutes to time when he tried to clear the ball, but for his bad fortune it went to substitute Mustafa Kareem from Iraq who received the ball and did not hesitate to drive it into the empty net giving his side a 1-0 lead. The home team's players went all out afterwards putting more pressure on their rivals' defense and their efforts were soon resulted in netting the equalizer.

This lone point helped the home team Al Ain to move one step forward taking 10th position after raising their balance to 15 points while the visiting squad Bani Yas  preserved their second place on 31 points. Al Ain are still having one game in hand against Al Ahli which was postponed from Round 16 due to the formers' 2011 AFC Champions League match played recently against Hangzhou Greentown of China.

The two teams played an open match from the start creating a number of scoring chances. Al Ain played without their Romanian played Valentin who failed to convince the team's Brazilian coach Alexander Gallo after being given an opportunity in many games, but he  demonstrated a poor performance. Bani Yas also missed the efforts of their midfielder Amer Abdul Rahman due to injury.

The visitors were rewarded a penalty only 7 minutes into the game when Ahmad Ali was sent clear with only Al Ain's custodian Waleed Salim to beat, but he was brought down by the goalie. Andre Sangahoor failed to convert the ball into the net for Waleed to save brilliantly. The penalty was a turning point of the game as both teams played with great care. Al Ain got a lovely chance six minutes later but their striker Juma'a Saeed from Ivory Coast failed to score although he was facing the goal. Haboosh Saleh of Bani Yas sent a long-range drive but Al Ain's keeper diverted it to a corner in the 17th minute and his counterpart Mohammad Ali Gholoom made another nice save six minutes before the break when Al Ain's left full back Mohammad Salim launched a strong volley.

The players of both squads continued to lose more chances in the second session. Mahdi Ali, Ban Yas' new caretaker coach, made his first change in the 62nd minute bringing on Mustafa Kareem to replace injured midfielder Haboosh Saleh before pulling out Sangahoor who was replaced by Saleh Al Minhali 10 minutes before the final whistle. Substitute Mustafa Kareem scored the first goal of the game two minutes later and Ismail Ahmad made it 1-1 in the additional time.