Cosmin Olaroiu got his debut season as Al Ahli boss off to a shocking start after watching his side slump to a disappointing 3-1 UAE League Cup defeat to Al Dhafra.
Al Ahli are tipped to mount a serious challenge for the Arabian Gulf League title, but the Dubai club will need to significantly improve on this evening’s performance to have a realistic shot at toppling Al Ain.
Al Ahli were missing seven key Emirati players on international duty, but Olaroiu managed to field all of his foreign stars. Captain Grafite made a return after missing the Super Cup through suspension, while Ciel, Hugo Viana, and Luis Jimenez all lined-up in a competitive side.
Arguably the biggest absence was goalkeeper Majed Nasser, with understudy Saif Yousif enduring what can only be described as a nightmare of a match.
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Al Dhafra opened the scoring in the ninth minute thanks to the first howler of the night from Yousif. A deep in-swinging free-kick from new Moroccan signing Kamel Chafni was met by Makhete Dip, but instead of comfortably saving, Yousif bundled the ball to the feet of Bandar Mohammed , who gladly accepted the gift to nudge home.
Al Ahli had a chance to equalise straight from the kick-off as Brazilian forward Ciel latched onto a route one pass, although his volley was solidly blocked by Abdulla Sultan in the Al Dhafra goal.
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The hosts doubled their lead just shy of the half hour mark when Bandar turned supplier with a cross from the right which found an marked Chafni, who effortlessly guided his header into the back of the net.
After a half chance from Grafite, it went from bad to worse for Al Ahli when Al Dhafra grabbed their third moments before the half time interval. Abdulsalam Jumaa set up Chafni, whose shot from distance took a deflection off Al Ahli defender Amer Mubarak to divert the ball beyond the reach of Yousif.
After the restart it was Al Dhafra who went dangerously close to making it four as Makhete Diop met a corner powerfully with his head, but his 50th-minute effort clattered off the underside of the crossbar and back out to safety.
Three minutes after the scare, Al Ahli gave themselves a lifeline when Grafite got on the end of Ciel through ball from the right following a bursting run from Luis Jimenez.
Grafite went close again in the 67th minute when he called Al Dhafra goalkeeper Abdulla into action, and he was forced into another save two minutes later from Basheer Saeed’s strong free kick from distance.
Despite Al Ahli’s rallies to get back into the game, Al Dhafra remained organised and defensively strong to secure three points from their opening Group B fixture.
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