Al Dhafrah on the brink of maiden quarter-final berth
Ho Chi Minh City: Al Dhafrah inched closer to their first-ever quarter-finals of the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 after scoring a 4-0 win over Kyrgyz Republic’s FC Erem on Saturday.
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Much was expected of this encounter between two teams who are featuring in their first-ever AFC Futsal Club Championship. Both sides had piqued the curiosity of their rivals after registering opening victories in Group A on Tuesday.
FC Erem, who stunned the competition when they defeated home favourites Thai Son Nam, were at their best once again, creating the first chance of the match when Maksadbek Alimov's driving effort came off Al Dhafrah’s right post inside the first four minutes.
The Kyrgyz Republic side came close again, this time through Emadoddin Mohammadivashvaei, but the Iranian import saw his free-kick saved bravely by Al Dhafrah custodian Hassan Ali Alhantoobi.
Both sides were evenly matched but lacked the cutting edge as neither was able to find the lethal touch in the final third. The United Arab Emirates side were happy to soak up the pressure as FC Erem continued to find the opener and were almost rewarded when Emil Kanetov found an unmarked Mohammadivashvaei, whose lightning run was let down by a wayward shot with only the keeper to beat.
Al Dhafrah then came close four minutes before half-time, capitalising on the counter with some fine individual trickery by Rafael Henmi who did well to beat two players but mistimed his back heel at the crucial moment to keep the match scoreless.
With 36.6 seconds left in the first half, Al Dhafrah were awarded a penalty after Adilet Kultaev was adjudged to have brought down Henmi but Williams Oliveira Do Nascimento’s (Vassoura) tame shot was denied by Kirill Ermolov’s left knee.
The second half continued to see Al Dhafrah deploy their soak-and-strike approach, a move that nearly paid off when Henmi let fly a thunderous right-foot effort but Ermolov was again the saviour, this time tipping away with a strong left hand.
The custodian would let his side down, however, after a hasty decision to leave his goal mouth to volley a clearance led to a defensive mix-up, allowing Al Dhafrah’s Abdulkarim Jamil to break the deadlock four minutes after the restart.
The Central Asian side continued to pile the pressure, and were left to rue a golden opportunity in the 35th minute when Alimov missed an open chance after a neat cut-back from Iman Ahmadipaeinlamouki. The miss would prove costly just moments later, as Al Dhafrah doubled their lead through Vassoura, the Brazilian tucking away a composed finished after benefitting from a ricochet off Ermolov four minutes from time.
Vassoura then added another two minutes later, lofting the ball from his own half after FC Erem’s attempted all-out five men attack backfired. Three became four a minute later after Jamil released Mohamed Hassan Alhammadi for an easy finish.
FC Erem will be hoping to get their quarter-final ambitions back on track when they face Australia’s Vic Vipers in their final Group A match on Monday. Al Dhafrah, meanwhile, will be aiming to cement their place in the final eight when they take on home favourites Thai Son Nam on the same day.
Rui Daniel Guimaraes (Al Dhafra Head Coach)
“This was a very hard game, it was not easy to play against FC Erem. We tried to dominate but credit to the opponents for really taking the game to us. But in the end, I am very happy with the performance of my players. From defence to attack, we always aim to play good quality futsal and I believe it showed today.”
Daniiar Abdyraimov (FC Erem Head Coach)
“All I have to say is we created so many chances but the only thing we could not do was score. In football, if you don’t score, you don’t win. But our aim is still to qualify for the quarter-finals.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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