(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Coach cosmin puts on a brave face after draw against al hilal in afc champions league
al ahli’s grafite and digao of al hilal in action during their champions league match. — kt photo by juidin bernarrd
al ahli’s romanian head coach cosmin olariou turned a brave face during the post-match news conference of their disappointing afc champions league home goalless draw against saudi arabia’s al hilal at the rashid stadium here on tuesday night.
the uae champions split points with their saudi opponents al hilal in the fifth round while a win would have seen them through before the final day of the group stage. however the two sides have played a highly tactical game with both coaches were obviously preoccupied with the desire not to concede goals before thinking of scoring goals.
“it was a tough encounter. the two teams were eager to win and we have missed some good scoring opportunities in the first half. my players were too much exhausted after playing a big game against al wasl in the arabian gulf league and started preparations for the acl challenge. al hilal is a strong side and the hot weather conditions didn’t help.
“we are still in with a chance to progress to the last 16. al ahli will face al dhafra in the uae league cup final after only four days. i’m not looking for excuses. it’s our fate and we must live up to the expectations of our club’s fans and management” said al ahli romanian coach cosmin olariou. “many people said al ahli is holding the joker and the players were going for an easy win against al hilal.
“some of our key players did not perform to their best including ciel. but all the strikers were not convincing and did not take the right decisions at the right time. ciel did a very good job during the league’s matches and must not be attacked because he was not successful in one single game. the absence of luis jimenez has left the team helpless in midfield” he said.
al ahli maintained their lead over group-d with seven points on goals difference ahead of iran’s sepahan. al hilal slipped to the third position with six points and al sadd are fourth with five points.
and while al ahli are looking forward to claim their first-ever afc champions league silverware al hilal have won the asian club championship twice in 1991 and 2000 but failed to impress since then. earlier in the afternoon sepahan kept their hopes in the knockout stage very much alive with a convincing 4-0 win over qatari visitors al sadd at isfahan city’s foolad shar stadiumy.
after a goalless first half mehdi sharifi curling home on 46 minutes and then doubling the lead on 55 minutes. substitute xhevahir sukaj added a third goal just eight minutes later and an own goal from al sadd defender ibrahim majed deep into stoppage time completed the rout.
knowing nothing less than victory would keep their knockout stage hopes alive sepahan began the group d game at a furious tempo as they pushed back their qatari visitors right from the kick-off.
but despite their endeavor they struggled to create many chances of note in the opening half hour with the visitors keeping them at bay and both goalkeepers largely reduced to bystanders.
by the end of the fifth round all the four teams are in with a chance to make it into the second stage. al ahli travel to qatar to line up against al sadd and al hilal host sepahan in the final round on april 22.
in another clash al ain advanced to the knockout stage of the championship following a sweeping 5-0 away victory over hosts lekhwiya at the abdullah bin khalifa stadium doha qatar.
strikes by ebrahima diaky alex borosque mohammed abdul rahman and a brace by the ghanaian scoring machine asamouah gyan earned the purple squad the full points and the first of the two berths reserved for the group-c in the second stage of the continent’s premier club competition. al ain raised their tally to ten points from five starts.
meanwhile saudi giants al ittihad are one point off the pace in second place following their 2-0 home victory over tractoraz tabriz and set to clash against pace setters al ain for the lead in the final round of the group stage in al ain city on april 22. while al ain can now prepare for the round of 16 lekhwiya who reached the quarter-finals last year have been all but eliminated after they suffered their heaviest-ever defeat in the afc champions league. al ain have won the title of the inaugural edition of the rebranded competition the afc champions league in 2003.
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