ABU DHABI // The arrival of Ibrahim Diaky as a substitute helped galvanise Al Ain to beat Al Ahli 3-1 at the Mohammed bin Zayed stadium and reach the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup on Monday night.
Trailing to Ahmed Khalil’s penalty, Diaky won a spot-kick for Al Ain with 12 minutes to go after being felled by Kwon Kyung-won. Omar Abdulrahman duly converted to take the game into extra-time.
Diaky then put Al Ain ahead seven minutes into the extra-time period when he was first to react to tap home after Ahli goalkeeper Majed Naser had only been able to parry away Danilo Asprilla’s shot.
Abdulrahman completed the victory with his second goal in the last minute after Al Ain had survived a scare when Ismail Al Hammadi’s shot struck the bar for Ahli moments earlier.
Al Ain had enjoyed the better of proceedings for much of the game, but had struggled for a way through the Ahli backline.
Ahli, who were without the suspended Everton Ribeiro, looked as if they would prevail, despite spending much of the game on the back foot, when Khalil converted a spot-kick in the 57th minute after he had been felled by Ahmed Barman.
But Al Ain fought back thanks to the introduction of Diaky and it is they who will have the momentum when the sides meet again in the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium.
In the other games, Al Jazira, the defending champions, sailed through to the last eight stage after goals from Ahmed Al Hashmi and Ali Mabkhout earned a 2-0 win over Kalba at the Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium.
Al Wasl also claimed a 2-0 victory over 10-man Baniyas at the Khalifa bin Zayed stadium in Al Ain. Hassan Salmin put Wasl ahead and Waheed Ismail doubled the lead in the second half to ensure a comfortable evening’s work.
Meanwhile, Hatta got the better of Al Dhafra 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 deadlock at the Zabeel stadium.
Samuel Rosa was on target for Hatta but the lead did not last long, with Omar Khrbin’s equalising four minutes later. But it was Hatta who held their nerve in the shoot-out to progress through.
[ apassela@thenational.ae ]
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