AL ITTIHAD 1 AL AIN 3
Al Ittihad - Ismail Ahmed (og) 35'
Al Ain - Gyan 40', Abdulrahman 66', Diaky 84'
Man of the match - Miroslav Stoch (Al Ain)
Just when the alarm bells began to sound, up stepped Al Ain's Mr Dependable.
As is usually the case, Asamoah Gyan struck exactly when his side needed him most.
The Ghanaian striker, already by some distance the hottest hitman in the 2014 Asian Champions League, again rode to the rescue, steadying a ship that had moments before sprung a leak.
In the eerily sedate surroundings of King Abdulaziz Sport City in Saudi Arabia, Al Ain completed a job started against Al Ittihad at home one week previously.
Beginning the quarter-final second leg in a sturdy position – 2-0 up on aggregate – the UAE club’s lead was halved just after the half hour. They were suddenly shaken.
Al Ain’s Ismail Ahmed, scorer of the opener last week at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, inadvertently turned a Marquinho cross into his own net
Ittihad, distinctly second best until then, were granted a lifeline.
Yet, in a flash, hopes were extinguished. Gyan, the most prolific marksman during the past three domestic seasons, has found his touch on the continent, too, and he again enhanced a gilded reputation.
Released by Miroslav Stoch’s sublime through ball, Gyan took one touch with his red right boot to control, then one swish of his left blue boot to consign Ittihad to their exit.
It brought to 12 the number goals for Gyan in this year’s tournament, made the score 3-1 overall and, most significantly, provided Al Ain with that crucial away goal. The Saudis required three to progress.
Instead, Al Ain were to advance, spared having to rue several spurned chances earlier, when Fares Juma had a goal correctly disallowed for being offside, when Jires Kembo Ekoko somehow contrived to place wide of an open net, and when Ahmed Barman scuffed his shot as he bore down on the Ittihad goalkeeper.
They mattered little after Al Ain eventually sealed their place in the semi-finals with a flourish, with Omar Abdulrahman and Ibrahim Diaky adding goals in the second half.
A last-four spot, for the first time in nine years, was theirs.
Al Hilal, the Riyadh-based club, will greet the 2003 champions there, familiar foes, sure to be wary of the rampant Emiratis with the goal-gathering African.
This was a golden night with the promise of yet more yield.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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