(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Al ain were impressive in rallying from a goal down to take the lead but the iranian club fought back to hold the arabian gulf league champions 2-2
Japan’s sanfrecce hiroshima midfielder takuya marutani (28) vies for the ball with south korea’s fc seoul defender lee woong-hee during their afc champions league group f match in seoul. — afp
Al ain overcame weather conditions and strong opponents in tractorsazi tabriz but had to settle for a draw in a group c fixture of the afc champions league at the yadegar emam stadium in tabriz iran on a chilly tuesday night.
Al ain were impressive in rallying from a goal down to take the lead but the iranian club fought back to hold the arabian gulf league champions 2-2.
Tractorsazi tabriz had gone ahead on 20 minutes through saeed daghighi but al ain equalised in the second half through asamoah gyan on 59 minutes. al ain took the lead through mohamed abdulrahman in the 59th minute but tractorsazi cancelled that out through farshad ahmadzadeh two minutes later.
Playing in their backyard and in front of their vociferous fans it was no surprise that tractorsazi tabriz began well as al ain who were welcomed by cold conditions were still finding their feet. the iranian side took the lead on 20 minutes through saeed daghighi and the scoreline would stay that way as they went into half-time.
Al ain had done well to keep tractorsazi in check and also came up with some brilliant moves but could find a way through. the half-time break seemed to have done the inaugural champions some good as they came back with all guns blazing.
Al ain won back-to-back corners on 51 minutes and came close on both occasions. they could have equalised on the second attempt when ismail ahmed headed in an omar abdulrahman corner but january signing yassine el ghanassy who was lurking in front of the goalmouth failed to make contact with his head.
But their relentless pressure bore fruit as asamoah gyan gave al ain the equaliser on 54 minutes. omar abdulrahman sent an inch perfect chip from the left and gyan broke the off-side trap and went in drew the goalkeeper out before calmly heading it home.
And then al ain took the lead on 59 minutes thanks to the abdulrahman brothers—omar and mohammed. omar sent a lovely chip from the middle and mohamed broke the off-side trap by timing his run perfectly. he controlled the ball before lobbing it over the on-rushing goalkeeper.
But tractorsazi made sure the celebrations were short-lived by getting the equaliser two minutes later. farshad ahmadzadeh did a solo from the left befor chipping it into goal. al ain could have retaken the lead in the next minute but gyan fired it over the cross bar after an omar abdulrahman cross from the left.
Gyan came close again on 72 minutes but his dangerous header was collected by the goalkeeper.
James?khaleejtimes.com
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