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Al Ain defeat Kalba 3-1 to edge closer to the title

 

Al Ain moved closer to retaining the League title for the second successive season, making things difficult for their rivals following their deserved 3-1 victory over lowly Ittihad Kalba in the Etisalat Pro League Round 21 encounter held tonight at Kalba Union Sports and Cultural Club Stadium. The winners raised their tally to 52 points to remain on top ahead of their nearest chasers Bani Yas with a difference of 14 points prior to their game against Al Ahli tomorrow. This defeat puts Kalba in a critical situation as they currently remain bottom of the ladder on 10 points, struggling hard to avoid relegation especially after their closest competitors Dibba Al Fujairah secured three valuable points this evening, beating Al Wasl 3-2.

Al Ain launched a series of continuous forays from the offset endeavoring to score an early goal but the Ittihad Kalba defence held firm to deny them any goal-getting chances, whilst the hosts tried to surprise the visitors with fast attacks through long passes which Al Ain defenders controlled with great confidence. 

Both coaches, the Romanian Cosmin Olario of Al Ain and the Brazilian Jose Mario of Kalba, kept their first choice strikers the Ghanaian Asamoah Geyan and Zimbabwean Edward Sadomba at the bench hoping to field them on in the proper time.

Al Ain midfielder Omer Abdulrahman was almost to put his side ahead only 15 minutes into play, but his close-range shot missed the target. The home team had their real dangerous sitter in the 21st minute off the Jordanian Amer Deeb’s cross ball from the left flank but Saoud Faraj’s powerful header was saved and deflected by the custodian Abdullah Sultan to a corner kick.

The two sides went on exhibiting an equal display but without scoring. The match was stopped for a few minutes after Kalba’s defender Mustafa Saeed was injured in the 26th minute and taken as urgently as possible to the nearest hospital for Talal Abdullah to replace him. The match referee Mohammed Abdulkarim restarted the game afterwards and the two rivals continued building some scoring chances but all their efforts failed to yield any goals. But it was the Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi who succeeded in putting Al Ain 1-0 up in the 33rd minute off a dead ball that beat the keeper Khalid Al Saadi. The joy of Al Ain players did not live long as Kalba striker Saoud Faraj brought the tie into parity with a strong left-footed volley in the 37th minute sending the two teams to the dressing rooms with a 1-1 draw.

Only two minutes have passed after the breather before Mirel Radoi doubled Al Ain’s advantage when he sent the ball into the right top corner making it 2-1. His team mate Alex Brosque came close to add the third goal but for his bad fortune his shot went just inches from the far post in the 53rd minute. Al Ain’s Romanian coach brought on the Ghanaian striker Asamoah Geyan to replace Yousuf Ahmad for Al Ain to press hard but things remained without change. Kalba’s situation became more critical after their player Sultan Saif was given marching orders after collecting two yellow cards for his team to finish the game with ten players. The two coaches made some substitutions in the last ten minutes before Asamoah Geyan scored Al Ain’s third goal in the last minute to make it 3-0 in favor of Al Ain.