Al Ain 4 Kalba 0
Al Ain Abdulrahman 23', Douglas 32', 75', Diaky 65'
Man of the match Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain)
DUBAI // After successive defeats, Al Ain have returned to winning ways, back on track and still in the hunt for three pieces of silverware.
The UAE champions opened their President’s Cup account Saturday at Al Wasl’s Zabeel Stadium, where they met Kalba from Division One and from where they soon emerged with a 4-0 victory.
It may sound strange given everything that preceded those two recent reverses, but the win was much needed. Al Ain’s crown has slipped this past week, first in losing at home to Al Shabab in the Arabian Gulf League and then to El Jaish on their 2016 Asian Champions League bow. Front-runners for most of the season in the battle for the domestic top-flight title, they must now chase down Al Ahli.
Read more: Asian Champions League – Al Ain confident despite error-filled play of late
Yet Al Ain cast those troubles aside to defeat Kalba, eventually comfortably. It may have been against the third-best side in the division below, but the five-time winners had a tricky test to negotiate, which they did to move through to the quarter-finals. For now, everything seems rosy in the Garden City again.
“We had just one goal: to pass to next round,” said Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach. “Behind us is a bad time, a bad seven days. We needed to get back to winning ways. Thankfully, now we’ve won and passed to the next round.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy for us because we were tired after the Champions League. But we pressed and pressed, against a good team, a dangerous team fighting for Division One. We achieved our target and we move on.”
Progression came courtesy of goals from Omar Abdulrahman and Ibrahim Diaky, while Douglas notched twice. Abdulrahman’s opener was the pick of the bunch, with the UAE international floating an inch-perfect free-kick into the top corner of the Kalba net.
Perhaps the most welcome contribution came from Douglas, though, the under-fire striker who went someway to atoning for his substandard performance midweek by grabbling a double, one in either half. Moving to five goals in seven appearances, it should serve the new recruit well going forward.
“Today I was pushing him to play a full game, to get back his confidence,” Dalic said. “Last game, he missed six or seven clear chances, but today I wanted to push him because this guy has quality, always has chances. But he’s been unlucky.
“I hope that today his confidence has come back and he’s ready for Champions League, because we need a scorer who will finish our good play, the chances we create. I hope today that, after two goals, he comes back.”
Kalba did carve their own opportunities, thudding the post with a free-kick, while Romanian Mihai Costea drove the ball over the Al Ain crossbar when it appeared easier to score. But, in truth, Al Ain were always comfortable enough; confidence restored, fans’ belief regained.
President’s Cup results and fixtures
Friday
Al Wahda 3-4 Al Wasl (after extra time)
Emirates 5-3 Fujairah (aet)
Al Ahli 4-0 Ajman (aet)
Dibba 1-4 Al Shaab (aet)
Saturday
Al Shabab 1-2 Baniyas (aet)
Sharjah 5 Al Nasr 4
Sunday
Al Dhafra v Al Jazira (at Baniyas) 5.35pm
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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