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League Leaders Al Ain come from behind to win 2-1 at Al Wasl

Etisalat Pro League leaders Al Ain fought back from 1-0 down to come out 2-1 winners against Al Wasl at the Zabeel Stadium on Thursday night. The reigning champions had to dig deep to overcome Eid Baroot’s battling Al Wasl side, who took an early lead in the 3rd minute, but a brace from the League’s top scorer Asamoah Gyan ensured Al Ain continued their march at the top of the table.

Al Wasl struck before the League leaders had settled into their rhythm, taking the lead in just the 3rd minute as Achille Emana fired a left-footed shot across goal past Al Ain goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman, which nestled in the bottom right-hand corner of the net to put Al Wasl 1-0 up. The remainder of the first half was a scrappy and sometimes ill-tempered affair, with the rivalry between the two teams making every ball fiercely contested. Al Ain shaded the possession and dominated the attacks, but were unable to make any of their chances count as Jires Kembo-Ekoko missed a long range shot, Alex Brosque went close with a powerful drive, and Omar Abdulrahman and Asamoah Gyan combined several times to present each other with chances but could not find an end product. Tensions were running high as Al Ain continued to be wasteful with free kicks and right on the stroke of half time the visitors had their best chance to level the scores. Asamoah Gyan handed a great scoring chance to Omar Abdulrahman, but the midfield dynamo put his shot just wide of the right-hand post and the teams retreated to the dressing rooms with Al Wasl protecting a 1-0 lead.

Emerging for the second half with strapping on his left knee, it was clear that the hotly contested game was taking its toll on Omar Abdulrahman as Al Wasl successfully man-marked the playmaker to limit his influence on the game. However, the UAE’s golden boy still managed to create chances as his 51st-minute cross almost found Kembo-Ekoko, but for some reason the French striker paused his run and the chance escaped. But it was ‘Amoory’ who was the catalyst as Al Ain drew level in the 66th minute. The energetic Al Ain midfielder dinked a left-footed ball over the top of Al Wasl’s defense and Asamoah Gyan caught it perfectly with his right foot to slot home his 23rd goal of the season, surpassing his 22-goal haul of 2011-2012. Al Wasl tried to hit back through substitute Hassan Ali but Dawoud Sulaiman made the right goalkeeping decision in rushing out to get there ahead of the Al Wasl player. In a pacey, end-to-end game, Al Ain immediately stormed up the pitch and Matei Mirei Radoi went painstakingly close with a shot that whistled past the far post in the 75th minute, and back up the other end just one minute later, Al Ain defender Fares Juma made a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny Al Wasl’s Jussie Ferreira a certain scoring opportunity.

It was the reigning champions who made the sudden frantic attacks count, as they stole the lead in the 79th minute with Asamoah Gyan netting his brace; his 24th goal of the season. Jires Kembo-Ekoko whipped a cross in from the right-hand side and the Ghanaian striker made no mistake as he powered home a strong header to put Al Ain 2-1 up, and that is how the scoreline remained as Al Ain took all three points back to the Garden City.