With or without their head coach, Al Ahli can’t stop winning.
Al Dhafra – who have made a habit of giantkillings this season – were the latest victims, essentially losing the game by half time following an opening 45 minutes of relentless domination.
With second-placed Al Shabab dropping two points on Thursday, the Red Knights now carry a six point lead into the second half of the season.
While Al Ahli have a bad habit of monopolising possession but creating few chances and taking even less, the home side were clinical in their first half dismantling with Grafite, Ismael Al Hammadi and Hugo Viana all getting on the scoresheet.
With head coach Cosmin Olariou looking on from the stands, his team won their third straight game since his six-month suspension and appeared to be suffering no ill effects that were expected when he received his ban last month.
Al Dhafra, a team spending more time looking down than up in the table, played manfully and at least left the Rashid Stadium with a wellworked consolation goal in the form of Makhete Diop’s back post header.
That was however soured by a last sending off for Ali Abbas for elbowing Ahmad Khalil. For Al Ahli’s stand-in coach Catalin Raducan, the game could hardly have unfolded better.
“They went to the field very motivated, they concentrated and they played a very good first half,” said the Romanian.
“The second half was perhaps not so good, we made mistakes and gave them chances to get back in the game.
“But to the end, we got the three points and kept us in a good position after the first half of the season. It’s very important for the players to know we haven’t done anything. We are first after the first half but it is more important to be first after the second half of the season.”
Clinical and purposeful though Al Ahli’s first half was, they could have easily plundered more. Prior to opening the scoring in the 20th minute, Grafite headed a corner inches wide of the post before nearly pulling off a stunning on-the-turn volley a minute later.
His goal would eventually come as he finished low and hard from Ciel’s pull back. From there, there were no mistakes.
Grafite turned provider seven minutes later, crossing low for Al Hammadi to slide in a second before Viana put the game as good as out of reach thanks to a deflected 25-yard effort that cannoned off the unfortunate Bilal Najjarrine past a helpless Abdulla Sultan.
It was an impressive showing from the league leaders but Al Dhafra coach Abdulla Misfer felt his side’s inability to defend the wings was as much as fault for the goals as the home side’s brilliance.
“I congratulate Al Ahli, they deserved to win and they went at us from the first minute,” said Misfer. “They took advantage of our mistakes, mistakes that we weren’t supposed to make.”
Misfer was more impressed with his side’s second half performance where they saw two goals ruled out for offside before Diop nabbed his consolation.
Diop had a header ruled out from a free kick for being in an offside position before he derailed Clottey’s chance of glory by obstructing the goalkeeper from an offside position.
Although Dr Misfer didn’t see things that way.
The Al Dhafra coach said: “Two goals offside that weren’t offside, Ali Abbas got sent off for a nothing challenge while Walid Abbas injured Emmanuel Clottey with a reckless challenge and the referee did nothing. I’m going to stop talking now.”
