Al Ain’s Asamoah Gyan (left) dribbles as Lekhwiya’s Ahmed Yasser looks on during their AFC Champions League match. Right: Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets. Pictures: Jayan Orma


By Sports Reporter/Doha



It seems like somebody has pulled the handbrake on Lekhwiya. They lost 0-5 against Qatar Sports Club in their Qatar Stars League match. But that was an inconsequential match considering they were already champions. But yesterday Lekhwiya were thumped by a similar margin in their AFC Champions League Group C match against UAE’s Al Ain. And with this defeat, Lekhwiya have been knocked out of this tournament.
Al Ain have qualified for the Round of 16 having notched up 10 points with this win. And in the other match from this group, Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad defeated Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz 2-0. This takes Ittihad to nine points and gives them the second qualifying spot in the group. Lekhiwya have managed only four points from their five matches and with just one match left to go, the QSL champions have no chance of overhauling these two teams.
It was a bad day for Qatar clubs as Al Sadd too lost their match 0-3 to Iranian side Foolad Sepahan. But Al Sadd still have a mathematical chance of qualifying for the next round. The other match in this group between Al Ahli and Al Hilal ended in a goalless draw. This means that Ahli and Sepahan have seven points apiece and Hilal and Sadd have six and five points respectively. If Sadd win their next match against Ahli they will qualify for the pre-quarter-finals.
Al Ain, the inaugural winners of the competition in 2003, had not managed an away victory in the group stage since 2006, the last time that they reached the knock out rounds. But they romped to a decisive win at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium with Asamoah Gyan scoring twice after he had helped to set up earlier goals for Ibrahim Diaky, Alex Brosque and Mohamed Abdulrahman.

AGAINST THE ODDS

It had been eight years and 16 matches since Al Ain had last won an away game in the group stage but the visitors made a bright start to the game and put the Lekhwiya goal under intense pressure early on.
In the 25th minute, Gyan took possession on the right of the Lekhwiya box and he unleashed an angled shot that Lecomte did well to save. Unfortunately for the hosts, the rebound fell nicely for Diaky, who got to the ball just ahead of defender Mohamed Musa and tucked the ball into the unguarded net.
The visitors would extend two minutes before half-time as Gyan went past the challenge of Musa on the left flank before playing a delightful ball to the near post where Brosque ghosted past the static Lekhwiya defenders to fire past Lecomte from close range.
The home side came out with greater attacking intent after the interval but they fell further behind in the 56th minute after some inept defending by Ingambo Tresor, who should have dealt easily with Gyan’s low cross from the right but tripped over the ball and allowed Mohamed Abdulrahman to nip in to make it 3-0.
Gyan had played a part in all of his team’s earlier goals and he finally got onto the scoresheet himself in the 70th minute when he raced onto a through ball and sidestepped the challenges of Tresor and Madjid Bougherra before slotting home.
And the Ghanaian would add his tournament-leading seventh goal in stoppage time when he was sent clear by Omar Abdulrahman and easily beat Lecomte to complete the rout.
As for Sadd, they were playing Sepahan at Isfahan City’s Foolad Shar Stadium where they couldn’t handle the attacking play by their opponents. A goalless and largely uneventful first half exploded into life after the interval with 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.
But Sadd still have a chance to redeem themselves. As for Lekhwiya, they can only be left ruing their missed chances in their earlier matches. “The players are ready and they have big determination to win the match,” Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets had said before the match. But that determination just wasn’t good enough yesterday.