Winger Rashed Essa stroked home the decisive penalty as Al Ain edged Wydad Casablanca for the inaugural UAE-Morocco Super Cup and gained their first pre-season triumph.
The Boss had battled their way to a 3-3 draw in normal time on Saturday at a raucous Stade Mohammed V, thanks to Omar Abdulrahman, Lee Myung-joo and an own goal from Brahim Nekkach.
A shootout followed and new boy Fellipe Bastos’ missed from 12 yards but was made up by two superb saves from UAE No2 Khalid Essa to claim a 5-4 victory.
صور مباراة العين والوداد المغربي المزيد من الصور في الرابط http://t.co/zbdl5AKCk2 #كأس_الصداقة pic.twitter.com/B9ZJpHZui3
— Al Ain FC (@alainfcae) August 9, 2015
The result ended a four-match winless run for the Arabian Gulf League champions, who had previously drawn with Al Sadd and lost to Lokomotiv Tashkent, Hull City and Al Hilal during the Austrian leg of their preparations.
The only negative was attackers Ryan Babel and Emmanuel Emenike are still goalless since moving this summer.
Zlatko Dalic saw his side fall behind in the seventh minute when Abdelatif Noussir took advantage of some awful defending to poke home. The Boss responded through star man Omar Abdulrahman’s free-kick, parity ending when forward Fabrice N’Guessi got between leaden-footed centre-backs Ismail Ahmed and Mohanad Salem to volley in.
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An enthralling opening half ended with centre midfielder Lee firing into the roof of the net from 20 yards. Only two goals followed after the break, Emenike’s bravery forcing Nekkach to deflect into his own net before Salaheddine Saidi earned penalties when following up from a late corner.
Meanwhile, Al Ahli ended their Italian tour with a narrow defeat to Serie A new boys Carpi. Brazilian midfielder Raphael Martinho scored the only goal from a 71st-minute rebound as coach Cosmin Olaroiu rotated his squad.
There was disappointment for Al Wahda, Qatar attacking midfielder Hassan Al Haidos’ penalty earning Al Sadd a 1-0 victory.
