Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Saida: Mouhamadou Drame scored the only goal of the game as Lebanon’s Al Ahed moved clear at the top of Group A of the 2016 AFC Cup with a 1-0 victory over Al Hidd from Bahrain.
Drame struck with an hour on the clock to seal all three points for his side and take Al Ahed onto nine points from their opening four games.
The Lebanese side lead Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr by three points with Al Wehdat from Jordan a further point adrift. Al Hidd, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom with a solitary point.
“There is no doubt that the match was very hard and we were lucky to get this victory and the three important points,” said Al Ahed coach Robert Jaspert. “We are happy with the victory but at the same time we didn’t have a good performance.
“We lost our concentration at some stages of the match and we had to do some tactical changes because our opponents are a strong team. We still have two matches and our ambition now is to finish on top of the group.”
Knowing they needed to win to haul themselves back into contention for a place in the Round of 16, Al Hidd took charge of the opening exchanges, but their control of the game yielded little in the way of clear cut scoring opportunities.
Al Ahed turned the tables on the Bahrainis in the second half and, 15 minutes after the restart, the home side took the lead when Drame picked up the ball from Hussein Zein before making his way into the area before shooting past Abbas Ahmed.
“We were realistic in the match and we showed a good performance,” said Al Hidd coach Salman Shareedah. “We controlled proceedings but we failed to score from the chances we created and we paid for this in the second period.
“Our players had a good performance but we were not lucky tonight while Al Ahed scored a goal which gave them the advantage. We hope that we can continue our good performances in the last two matches although our concentration will be on the local league.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports