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Al Ain sign off Pro-League title winning season in style
posted on 27/05/2012: 785 views
Al Ain made sure they ended their Pro League campaign on a high note as they celebrated their coronation as this year's champions with a 4-0 drubbing of Ajman yesterday at the Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Stadium.The entire city of Al Ain went purple in preparation for the grand event and the players signaled their intent from kick-off, as they fought to give the full-capacity crowd one parting gift for the season.An opening goal from Ignacio Scocco in the first half and some heroic touches from the talented Omar Abdulrahman in the second saw him contribute two assists for Asamoah Gyan, and score a goal himself, to give Al Ain a victorious finale to their championship-winning season.The hosts were in full attack mode from the get-go and Gyan has his first chance as early as the second minute when Omar Abdulrahman sent in a sneaky long through pass down the left side of the box, but the Ghanaian star did not connect properly and his effort went in vain.Six minutes later Matei Mirel Radoi curled in a dangerous cross but Ismail Mohamed skied his header. The first real chance for The Boss came in the 10th minute when Omar Abdulrahman gifted Gyan a brilliant ball down the right, but the 26-year-old strike went a couple of inches wide.Ajman gave out their first warning on 12 minutes when their captain Karim Kerkar spotted Al Ain's ‘keeper Waleed Salem advancing and he blasted an intelligent long ball from his own half - reminiscent of Xabi Alonso circa 2006 - that almost looped into the goal, but Salem boxed the ball from just under the bar at the very last second.Both sides continued to exchange blows but it wasn't until Ignacio Scocco's strike, in the 32nd minute, that the match came to life. The 26-year-old Argentine fed Gyan a brilliant looping ball down the left and charged towards the centre of the box, where he received a low pass from the Ghana star to fire a scorcher into the upper right corner of the net and give Al Ain the lead.Ajman's Tia Oliver had a golden chance to equalise for the visitors when he found himself alone with the Al Ain ‘keeper but Salem parried his hesitant effort.Five minutes from the break, Al Ain almost made it 2-0 when an inch-perfect long ball finds Yasser Al Qahtani six yards from the ‘keeper but Ali Mesmari blocks his effort.The second half had a tame start and Al Ain made two substitutions on 57 minutes, replacing goalscorer Scocco with Ali Al Wehaibi and Mohamed Abdulrahman with Helal Saeed.But the Al Ain crowd were treated by a some dazzling moves from Omar Abdulrahman seven minutes later when the young Emirati dribbled past five Ajman players inside the box before sending a low cross to Gyan, who was waiting patiently in front of the goal and tapped it in safely to make it 2-0.Three minutes later, Omar Abdulrahman solidified his man of the match credentials when he slotted home a third goal for Al Ain after his teammate Ismail Mohamed's shot was blocked by the Ajman defence.The party may had already started in the Garden City but Gyan only started dancing when he scored a second goal on 79 minutes. Again Omar Abdulrahman was the mastermind as he sent a long ball from his own half down the right which easily found Gyan, who shook off his defender and faked the ‘keeper to find the back of the net and make it 4-0. – Sport 360°
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