Aspire Academy claimed a 3-1 win against highly-fancied Glasgow Rangers at the under-17 Al Kass Cup yesterday. Aspire had lost to Raja Casablanca in the first match. In the 15th minutes, Mekki Tombari got in behind the Rangers defence down the right and crossed for midfielder Fahad al-Abdulla to slot home on the rebound, after his first effort was saved. After the restart, the hosts a chance to extend their lead when Abdulrahman al-Abdulrahman broke away down the right and supplied an inviting cross for Bin Sabaa, but his first time volley was miscued. The game began to open up, and Young-Coombes was presented with a great chance to level matters for Rangers, but fired wide. However, his presence in the Scottish front line was beginning to trouble Aspire’s defenders.
Chances continued to stack up for both sides, with al-Abdulrahman skewing horribly wide when the ball fell to him unmarked on the edge of the area. However, just after the hour mark, he atoned for this miss to send the home supporters wild.
Murray Miller was put under pressure in a central position 30 yards out, and he played a backpass straight to al-Abdulrahman, who was loitering with intent on the edge of the box. The Qatari forward gratefully accepted the gift, sliding the ball under keeper Hogarth to put Aspire two up.
Rangers were knocking on the door, and got a goal back soon after, when Arron Lyall got away down the right and cut back for fellow substitute Matt Yates to chest down and plant a fine effort into the roof of the net.
Suddenly a draw looked on the cards but, incredibly, Fahad al-Abdulla restored Aspire’s two-goal lead straight from the restart in spectacular fashion. His superb turn and shot from the edge of the area went in off the post to spark delirium in the stands. The result means that both sides progress into the knockout stages.
Roma win to knock out PSG
Roma clinched top spot in Group B with a 2-0 victory over last year’s runners-up Kashiwa Reysol, although their second goal didn’t come until the very last action of the match. The result suited both teams as Kashiwa still progress from the group stages at the expense of reigning champions PSG, due to the three-time winners crashing 5-2 against Roma two days earlier.
Kashiwa started brightly, with Seitoamanueru Omori (twice), Naito Saito and Takuma Otake all trying their luck at goal. For all the pressure by Kashiwa, it was Roma who almost took the lead after half-an-hour when Riccardo Ciervo cut in from the right and fired a left-foot shot beyond the keeper’s outstretched hand but it bounced back off the underside of the bar.
Ten minutes into the second half Roma took the lead when Nicola Zalewski received the ball out on the left and he burst into penalty area before unleashing a low drive that gave the keeper no chance. Kashiwa’s hopes of snatching anything from this game disappeared when they conceded a penalty in the injury. The decision, made with the assistance of VAR, was given for handball and Daniel Tueto Fotso stepped up to give Massato Sasaki no chance with his spot-kick.
Aspire Academy players celebrate after scoring against Glasgow Rangers at the under-17 Al Kass Cup. PICTURE: Jayaram
