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Al Ain out of AFC Champions League with 1-0 defeat by Esteghlal

Al Ain’s 2013 AFC Champions League journey ended with a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Esteghlal of Iran on Tuesday night. The final Group D match at the Tahnoun bin Mohamed Stadium in Al Ain was a must-win for the UAE side if they were to have any chance of progressing in the competition, but despite having the lion’s share of opportunities they were downed by a late penalty to put an end to Al Ain’s participation in this year’s tournament, with Etseghlal qualifying to the final 16 top of the group with 13 points and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia going through in second with 9 points. Al Ain finished third in the group with six points from six games and Qatar’s Al Rayyan ended bottom of the group with 4 points.

Despite star playmaker Omar Abdulrahman starting on the bench, Al Ain still had plenty of attacking threat going forward in the form of his brother Mohammed, the Etisalat Pro League’s current top scorer Asamoah Gyan, Australian striker Alex Brosque and French forward Jires Kembo-Ekoko. In fact it was Mohammed Abdulrahman who made the most work for Esteghlal’s goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati, in particular with a curving shot which required a fine fingertip save to be pushed over the top for a corner in the 22nd minute. With Al Ain knowing anything less than a win would be worthless, players had shots at any available opportunity, with defender Ismaeel Ahmed’s effort being saved from a tight angle. In the 34th minute Asamoah Gyan tried the spectacular, if implausible, as he attempted an overhead kick from distance. The Ghanaian striker managed to get his shot on target but there was not enough power behind it to significantly trouble the keeper. Further efforts from Mohammed Abdulrahman, Brosque and Radoi were unsuccessful as the teams remained tied at 0-0 at the half time break.

Al Ain continued to dominate going forward at the start of the second half, with the UAE team notching up 11 attacks to Esteghlal’s 4 within the first hour. Jires Kembo-Ekoko had two good chances, the first of which came in the 57th minute as he twisted and turned past the Esteghlal defenders but his eventual shot was saved, and in the 67th minute he squeezed a strong effort just wide of the post before being substituted for Omar Abdulrahman a minute later. But the introduction of the UAE’s current footballing hero couldn’t stop Al Ain from falling behind in the 80th minute after right-back Mohamed Ahmed conceded a penalty. Esteghlal’s Javad Nekounam stepped up to take the spot-kick twice, after the referee ordered his first scored penalty to be retaken, but the midfielder made no mistake as he sent the ball into the roof of the net to the keeper’s right to give the Iranian visitors a 1-0 lead ten minutes from time. Ali Al Wehaibi had Al Ain’s best chance to equalise in injury time but his shot from close range was kept out by the right foot of Esteghlal’s goalkeeper Mehdi Rahmati, and as the game ended 1-0, so too did Al Ain’s AFC Champions League 2013 hopes.