Not over until the last whistle, Al Ahli assistant insists despite major victory
Red Knights seek to finish off AGL with a flourish after scalping current title holders
Image Credit: Abdel-Krim Kallouche/Gulf News Archive
Ahmad Khalil netted a header off an Everton Ribeiro free kick in the 38th minute to help the Red Knights earn a crucial win.
Dubai: Al Ahli are taking nothing for granted despite the club making huge progress towards a seventh league title following their 1-0 win over defending champions Al Ain on Thursday.
UAE striker Ahmad Khalil netted a header off an Everton Ribeiro free kick in the 38th minute to help the Red Knights earn a crucial win and hand them a healthy advantage with three rounds of games yet to play.
The result saw Al Ahli establish a six-point lead at the top of the table with 59 points followed by Al Ain in second with 53.
Al Wahda are in third with 36 points followed by a trio of Dubai clubs — Al Wasl (35), Al Nasr (34) and Al Shabab (32).
Coach Cosmin Olaroiu, who plotted the downfall of the defending champions, did not attend the post-match conference as he was given his marching orders into injury time by the referee. His assistant Catalin Nicola attended instead.
“Nothing is over till the last whistle is blown. This was a match between two of the best teams in the UAE this year and we have won and established a lead at the top. There are another three games left and we need to win all nine points,” Nicola told media.
“The immediate thing now is to give the players a break of at least two days so that they can clear their minds and then we start preparing for the next important match against Al Nasr (on April 24),” he added.
After next week’s round 24, Al Ahli will have to tackle Bani Yas on April 29 and then sign off against already relegated Al Shaab on May 8.
“Winning all nine points from the remaining three games is going to be the target for us. We cannot afford to let down our guard at this stage. The second-half belonged to Al Ain, but I liked the way we fought and gave 100 per cent on the field,” Nicola said.
Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic rued perhaps his one last chance of playing catch-up on the leaders.
“Six points difference is big at this stage of the competition. We did everything possible to win but maybe luck was not on our side,” Dalic said.
“I can’t say anything to my players as they did everything possible to try and get three points. All we can do now is continue our hard work and start paying more attention to the Asian Champions League and the President’s Cup,” he added.
“It looks like the title is for Al Ahli due to their six points lead. Honestly, we can’t expect anyone else to help us or do us a favour. Our chance was there and we have lost it. Now we must win the next three games and get all nine points so that we can finish strongly.”
| # | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Ahli | 23 | +34 | 59 |
| 2 | Al Ain | 23 | +27 | 53 |
| 3 | Al Wahda | 22 | +12 | 36 |
| 4 | Al Wasl | 22 | +6 | 35 |
| 5 | Al Nasr | 22 | +7 | 34 |
| 6 | Al Shabab | 22 | +4 | 32 |
| 7 | Al Jazira | 23 | 0 | 31 |
| 8 | Bani Yas | 22 | -1 | 29 |
| 9 | Dibba Al Fujairah | 22 | -4 | 28 |
| 10 | Al Dhafra | 22 | -6 | 27 |
| 11 | Al Sharjah | 22 | -7 | 25 |
| 12 | Emirates | 22 | -11 | 23 |
| 13 | Al Fujairah | 22 | -20 | 19 |
| 14 | Al Shaab | 23 | -41 | 6 |
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