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Al Ain suffer 2-0 AFC Champions League loss at Esteghlal

The UAE Etisalat Pro League’s defending champions Al Ain suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Iran's Esteghlal in their second AFC Champions League match, which took place at the imposing Azadi Stadium. The winners top the standings of Group “D” with four points provisionally prior to Al Hilal v Al Rayyan’s game whilst the losers retain their previous three-point tally.

Al Ain started the encounter in positive fashion, demonstrating promising play and giving their hosts a hard time. The French striker Kembo-Ekoko was almost to open the scoring when he received Asamoah Gyan’s perfect pass, but his cross from inside the box was controlled by Al Esteghlal’s goalkeeper only three minutes into play. Esteghlal played in front of a big home crowd that boosted their morals throughout the game. But that did not threaten Al Ain’s players, who played an open and balanced game and were even the better side in most parts of the first half. They put more pressure on their rivals’ defense and came close to scoring on many occasions and their realest chance was in the 24th minute when Kembo-Ekoko was provided with a lovely pass and ran down the right flank, but his strong volley missed the target and flew far away. Al Ain’s Romanian midfielder Radoi also missed another sitter five minutes later. The Iranian veteran player Javad Nekounam called Al Ain goalie Dawood Sulaiman to action ten minutes before the break with a severe shot, but it hit a defender and deflected to a corner in the 32nd minute. The hosts’ coach brought on front man Farhad Majidi in the 36th minute to replace Camacho. The substitute came close to opening the scoring but his attempt was blocked by defender Faris Juma’a one minute later for the first session to come to an end with a scoreless draw.
The two teams restarted their struggle immediately after the breather with Radoi coming close to net the first goal but his shot went just inches over the cross bar in the 47th minute. Al Ain’s Australian player Alex Brosque squandered another opportunity for the visiting squad in the 56th minute when he was set free with only the goalkeeper to beat, but he failed to score. Farhad Majidi replied with another volley two minutes later when he rounded defender Faris Juma’a, and launched a rocket-like shot for the custodian Dawood to tip over the cross bar for a corner kick.

The level of Al Ain’s performance dropped as the game wore on, with their defenders slacking off and making mistakes, one of which was well exploited by JLloyd Samuel. The former Premier League player powered home the opener from a left-sided corner, giving his side a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute. The visitors were rocked by conceding, and another defensive wobble was capitalised upon by Farhad Majidi in the 73rd minute, scoring the second goal for his side and putting the game beyond reach for Cosmin Olaroiu’s side. Al Ain created a number of chances in the last minutes but they failed to score to end the game with a 2-0 win in favour of the Iranian team Al Esteghlal.