Operation group stage complete. It is far from mission accomplished though for Al Ain, who must now target AFC Champions League glory.
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An unbeaten passage through to the knockout stages was achieved by Zlatko Dalic’s men with a 3-0 win against Naft Tehran, thanks to goals from Omar Abdulrahman, Asamoah Gyan and Jires Kembo Ekoko.
A familiar foe awaits in the last 16. After already robbing Al Ahli of their Arabian Gulf League title, Al Ain will really hope to stick the knife into former boss Cosmin Olaroiu and the Red Knights who they will face in the next round.
That first leg will be played at Rashid Stadium in just 13 days’ time, the return in the Garden City a week later.
Spicy matchup ahoy! Al Ain beat Naft Tehran 3-0 to win #ACL2015 Group B & set up a last-16 clash with #AGLeague rivals Al Ahli.
— Paul Freelend (@PaulFreelend) May 6, 2015
Goalscorer Gyan believes the quarter-final against their Dubai-based rivals will be “special”.
“We would have preferred a team that didn’t know our strengths and weaknesses,” said the 29-year-old. “It will be a very special match with Ahli. We are playing against a team who knows us very well, but we have to stay focused.”
Playmaker Abdulrahman, 23, said it is a shame only one UAE team can make the quarter-finals.
“I was hoping it would be a different team, so there would be two UAE teams in the quarter-finals,” he said. “The next round is a special game against Ahli. Inshallah, we will play well and whoever is the better over the two games will go through.”
The Boss were largely in charge throughout but it wasn’t until tal- isman Abdulrahman opened the scoring that they and the crowd sparked into life.
Al Ain and Naft Tehran progress to #ACL2015 Round of 16. pic.twitter.com/2L526OmnTn
— The-AFC.com (@theafcdotcom) May 6, 2015
Despite being in control throughout the opening period, the first two chances fell to the visitors. Leandro Padovani’s header from Iman Mobali’s free kick was splendidly tipped over by Khalid Essa before Naft’s best player Arslan Motahhari got the better of Ismail Ahmed but not Essa’s post.
Al Ain finally created a chance of note but after Gyan beat the offside trap, Alireza Beiranvand stood tall to repel the Ghanaian’s tame effort.
Bozar Abbas twice served notice that Naft weren’t going to go quietly in the second half as he flashed two thumping drives just off target, but once the darling of the Hazza broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute, the result was a formality.
Lynchpin for both club and country, Abdulrahman brought the Hazza to its feet even if the goal arrived fortuitously.
His attempted one-two with Gyan found its way back to him off a defender. He then tied Saeid Lofti up in knots before his left-foot strike deflected in wickedly off the luckless right-back.
If Abdulrahman’s goal had an element of luck, Gyan’s game-clinching strike was purely emphatic. Mohamed Ahmed’s attempted knockdown struck a defender’s arm but Gyan was not about to appeal for a penalty, instead lashing it in to the top corner.
Kembo Ekoko put the icing on the cake with a late third, starting the move by expertly committing Vahid Hamdinejad before feeding substitute Rashed Essa.
His strike deflected off Beiranvand and onto the bar, the Frenchman nudging the ball over the line in to wrap up proceedings.
The scoreline was somewhat harsh on Naft, but there was more than scant consolation as Al Shabab’s 2-0 win in Uzbekistan over Pakhtakor sent the Iranian side through in second place.
