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10-man Al Nasr surrender lead to lose 2-1 against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli

Al Nasr suffered a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in their AFC Champions League Group D match on Wednesday night, despite taking the lead in the game at the Al Maktoum Stadium. The UAE Pro League side fought valiantly with ten men for an hour of the match after captain Leonardo Lima was sent off, but a brace from Amad Al Hosni proved the difference and leaves Al Nasr winless in the group.

A frantic opening forty-five saw Al Nasr goalkeeper Shambieh make an important stop from Al Ahli’s Abdulrahim Jezawi as early as the 9th minute, with the visiting midfielder’s shot from the rebound flying over the crossbar. A minute later Shambieh was again in action making a crucial stop from Amad Al Hosni’s effort, and at the other end of the pitch Al Ahli’s custodian Abdullah Almuaiouf made an acrobatic save to keep Bruno Cesar’s header out. Just a minute later, Al Nasr made the breakthrough in the pacy, end-to-end encounter. A corner taken by Giuseppe Mascara on the right was cleared but the ball fell to Takayuki Morimoto on the left hand side of the box, and the Japanese playmaker struck a clean finish into the goal to give Al Nasr a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.

Indicative of the energetic nature of the match, it took just four minutes for Al Ahli to get back on level terms. The usually attacking Humaid Abdulla found himself covering defensively in the right-back position and got the wrong side of Mansour Al Harbi, who lifted a cross over goalkeeper Shambieh’s head for the onrushing Amad Hosni to blast into the back of the net to make it 1-1 in the 17th minute. Both sides could sense there were more goals to come in this game, and poured forward at any given chance, with Bruno Cesar making a strong run towards goal and crossing the ball to Morimoto on the half hour mark, but Al Nasr’s goalscorer could not add to his tally as he caught his shot off-balance and the goalkeeper claimed. Things were about to take a turn for the worse for the home side, as they were reduced to 10 men in the 32nd minute when captain Leonardo Lima was shown a straight red card for a high foot on Al Ahli’s Jairo Palomino in the middle of the park, leaving Al Nasr with an hour to play with one less man on the pitch. Four minutes later Al Nasr would have an even bigger mountain to climb as Al Ahli took the lead, with Amad Al Hosni getting on the end of a header across goal from Victor Oliveira to score his second of the game in the 36th minute. Al Nasr did their best to get back level before half time, with Habib Al Fardan’s header from a corner hitting the crossbar in the 41st minute, and just a minute before the break Abdullah Almuaiouf saved from Bruno Cesar at a tight angle. The resulting corner was flicked on by Habib Al Fardan, but Mahmoud Darwish’s effort was saved. In stoppage time Bruno Cesar missed a gilt-edged chance to level things up as he put a diving free header wide of the post, and the teams went in with a 2-1 scoreline at half time.

The second half was of a slightly less frenetic pace, but still just as end-to-end, as Habib Al Fardan registered a shot just three minutes after the restart which was deflected behind for a corner. 53 minutes in, Shambieh was again on call as he saved brilliantly with his feet from an Al Hosni header, preventing the Al Ahli player from completing his hat-trick. Victor Oliveira threatened for Al Ahli and Morimoto put a shot wide for Al Nasr before the extra running for the 10 men of the home side began to tell, and manager Walter Zenga replaced the hard-working Humaid Abdulla and Takayuki Morimoto with Jamal Ibrahim and Younus Ahmad. In the 74th minute Al Nasr survived a scramble in the box as they failed to clear their lines from a free kick, but were let off the hook when the eventual shot from Al Ahli went wide.

Ten minutes from time Bruno Cesar’s blushes were spared by the offiside flag as he put a chance the wrong side of the post from close range. The ten men of Al Nasr dug deep to try and find an equaliser, with Habib Al Fardan working tirelessly in central midfield to try and construct chances for his side, but it wasn’t to be for the Blues and the game ended 2-1.