Al-Ain's Mohamed Alraqi (R) vies with El-Jaish's Sardar Rashidov during the Asian Champions League football return match between Qatar's El-Jaish and UAE's Al-Ain on October 18, 2016 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha. (AFP / Karim Jaafar)
DOHA: Al Ain of the UAE yesterday produced a goal in the dying seconds of injury time to hold Qatar’s El Jaish to a thrilling 2-2 draw in the second leg of their AFC Champions League semi-final.
Al Ain, who won the first leg 3-1 last month, have now reached the final of the AFC Champions League with a 5-3 aggregate score.
Twins Omar Abdulrahman (57) and Mohamed Abdulrahman (90 + 5) scored the goals for Al Ain who were followed to the match venue by a huge contingent of club fans.
El Jaish’s superb show was only possible due to the twin strikes of Romarinho (67 and 81) and goalkeeper Khalifa Abubacar who produced a series of tough saves at the Lekhwiya Stadium.
Al Ain’s Omar, the goal hero, was thrilled to see his side reach the final.
“I want to take this opportunity to say congratulations to our travelling fans and fans back home,” Omar, who scored the second goal, said.
“We came here to win but I would say the 2-2 draw is a fair result since both sides fought hard,” he said. “We were following the game-plan set by our coach. It was an exciting game, no doubt,” he said.
El Jaish’s Mohammed Abdulraab said: “We tried our best. Their first goal had a big impact on us. We played like a quality side. We made a mistake later in the second half and they scored the equaliser.
“We had made mistakes in the first leg and that cost us and that’s why we had to stretch ourselves,” he said.
“I’d say hard luck to our fans,” the midfielder added.
In a game wits, El Jaish applied pressure in the first half through their star striker Romarinho.
In the 17th minute, Romarinho curled in a beautiful direct free-kick that beat the Al Ain wall but goalkeeper Ismael Ahmed punched the ball away for a corner.
A few seconds later, Romarinho chose to go solo after a quick burst into the Al Ain box but his powerful shot was once again blocked by goalkeeper Ahmed.
El Jaish defenders complimented their strikers by withholding the pressure created by Al Ain forwards in the following few minutes.
In the 25th minute, Romarinho was brought down inside the Al Ain box but Saudi Arabia referee Fahad Almirda called ‘play-on’ much to the surprise of the home fans.
Two minutes later, Al Ain goalkeeper Ahmed rushed out 40 yards to block Romarinho and succeeded in reaching the ball before the El Jaish forward could deflect the ball towards the net.
El Jaish defender Murad Naji swooped in on a loose ball but his shot from the left flank went agonizingly close to the Al Ain goalpost in the 27th minute.
Seven minutes later, El Jaish’s tall goalkeeper Abubacar produced three back-to-back saves to keep his team in the hunt.
On two occasions, Al Ain’s Danilo Aspirlla took aim at the goal and each time Abubacar produced diving stops to keep the visitors from scoring.
Seconds into the second half, Romarinho fired a powerful long-range that was quickly punched away by Al Ain goalkeeper Ahmed.
Al Ain took the lead in the match when Amer found the back of the El Jaish net in the 57th minute.
In the 68th minute, Ramarinho’s hard work paid off as the Brazilian fired a goal for the home side from the edge of the Al Ain box, shooting past goalkeeper Ahmed.
In the 80th minute, the tireless Romarinho gave El Jaish the lead. After picking up a pass from Seydou Keita, Romarinho fired a bullet from the edge of the Al Ain box to score his team’s second goal.
The ball hit the back of the net with Al Ain ’keeper Ahmed in no position to stop the powerful shot.
In the dying seconds, Al Ain’s Omar fired one home to get the visitors a draw and a ticket to the AFC Champions League final.
In today’s second semi-final, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors hope to reach the AFC Champions League final when they take a 4-1 lead into their semi-final second leg against FC Seoul.
