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Al Ain overcome Al Jazira 5-4 on penalty shootout to snatch Super Cup title

 

Al Ain snatched the Super Cup Championship following their 5-4 victory over their traditional rivals Al Jazira with penalty shootout after the two teams were tied to a goalless draw in the official time of the match played this evening at Al Wasl Club Stadium.


Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bin Khalid Chairman of Al Ain Board of Directors, H.E. Yousuf Al Sarkal Chairman of UAE Football Association, H.E Mohammad Thani Murshed Al Rumaithi President of the Pro League Committee “PLC” and Abdulla Naser Al Junaibi gave away the trophy and the golden Medals to Al Ain players and the silver medals to Al Jazira players in the presence of Saleh Al Abdooli, Etisalat CEO of the corporation and Ali Al Ahmad, Etisalat's Chief Corporate Communications Officer a number of sport dignitaries.

 Asamoah Gyan, Ekoko, Radio, Mohammad Ahmad and goalkeeper Dawood Sulaiman scored for Al Ain while Ibrahima Diaky, Sultan Barghash,   Ricardo Oliveira and Salim Masaud scored for Al Jazira.  Omer Abdulrahman, Faris Juma’a and Mohammad Abdulrahman of Al Ain along with Fernando, Abdullah Mousa, the Korean Hyungmin Shin and Salim Masaud from Al Jazira lost their penalty kicks.  

The two teams started the game with great care and Al Ain Ghanaian striker came close to open the score when he ran down the left flank and penetrated inside the penalty area only two minutes from the word go, but his strong volley was saved by the goalie before being cleared away by a defender  He made another attempt two minutes later but his shot missed the target and his French teammate Kimpo Ekoko threatened Al Jazira goalkeeper Ali Khusaif with a fierce left footer but the latter tipped it over the cross bar in the fifth minute. 

Al Ain, the league champions, controlled the game putting more pressure on their rivals’ defense for their defender Faris Juma’a to miss the fourth successive chance for his side.

As time went on, Al Jazira started to recover and come back into the atmosphere of the game, playing a balanced attacking football and making some attempts through individual efforts, but all their attacks were in vain in thr first 30 minutes. They forced their opponents Al Ain to retreat back to defend their goal and depended for some time on counter attacks. Al Jazira Brazilian midfielder Delgado controlled the ball before the center line, moved forward and exchanged a lovely pass with his colleague Ibrahima Diaky  who sent a close – range volley that blocked bravely by Al Ain custodian Dawood Sulaiman eight minutes before the break . Abdulaziz Fayez replied with a dangerous attack when he received a pass on the right side, went past Al Jazira advancing goalkeeper Ali Khusaif before sending a long ball towards the empty net, but for his bad fortune it missed the target.

The Abu Dhabi – based Al Jazira, the President’s Cup Champions, looked the better side in the last 15 minutes and their first choice Brazilian front liner Ricardo Oliveira squandered the most dangerous opportunity in the first session when he launched a strong shot from inside the box for Al Ain defender Faris Juma’a to dash on the ball and diverted it to a corner in the 39th minute. The result remained unchanged in the last minutes as the two squads could not find the back of the net to end the first half with a goalless draw.

The same scenario was repeated two minutes after the breather when Ekoko came close to score; he rounded up two defenders but his volley hit the goalkeeper’s body to lose a valuable chance. Al Ain Romanian coach Olario Cosmin made his first substitution when he fielded on Mohammad Abdulrahman to replace his injured colleague Abdulaziz Fayez in the 57th minute. Both Luiz Fernando of Al Jazira and Omer Abdulrahman of Al Ain lost two successive chances for their sides in the 60th and 63rd minutes respectively. Al Jazira coach Bonamego pulled off Khamis Ismail and brought in Subait Khatir in the 71st minute. Asamoah Gyan was put clear by Radio in the 75th minute with only the goalie to beat for Ali Khusaif to advance and spoil his attempt. Hilal Saeed of Al Ain came in to replace Yaqoob Al Hosani two minutes later and Al Jazira midfielder Sultan Barghash played in place of Delgado six minutes before the final whistle. 

The two teams ended the regular time with a goalless draw to resort to penalty shootout which ended in favour of Al Ain.