Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Al Ain: Coach Zlatko Dalic was left to lament his side’s exit from the AFC Champions League after former champions and 2014 semi-finalists Al Ain were eliminated on the away goals rule by compatriots Al Ahli on Wednesday.
The 2003 winners shared a thrilling 3-3 draw that saw Al Ahli progress to the quarter-finals for the first time by virtue of the away goals ruling after the first leg had ended scoreless, with the Dubai side joining Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal, Naft Tehran from Iran and Qatari champions Lekhwiya in the western half of the draw.
ACL RD16 2nd Leg: Al Ain 3-3 Al Ahli
“I’m sorry for the result as our run in the competition came to an end and we finished the season with only one title,” said the Croatian, who led Al Ain to the domestic league crown.
“I’m responsible for this result today but at the end of the day this is football and anything is possible.”
Al Ain had taken the lead through Asamoah Gyan but three goals from five second-half minutes from Salmin Khamis and a brace from Ahmad Khalil left Dalic’s team with a mountain to climb.
Gyan pulled one back with 12 minutes remaining before Rashed Eisa scored in stoppage time, but it was not enough to overhaul Al Ahli, who now go into next month’s quarter-final draw.
“The conditions that we had were hard because we are at the end of the season and we had several matches in a short period of time,” said Dalic. “The players put a big effort today and we were better but in the second half we suffered a lot.
“We conceded three goals in five minutes in the second half and this is the main reason behind our exit from the competition. In the second half we made some substitutions but nothing changed.”
Photo: WSG