A quite sizable number of Al-Nasr’s fan’s took the ride across to the outskirts of Doha to watch today’s match.

El-Jaish hopes were put on Rahsidov & Romarinho to carry forward El-Jaish ACL qualification chances. Coach Lamouchi included the former Barcelona player Seydou Keita who is on loan to replace the injured Hamdallah. Former Al Sadd player Hamza was also seen in the starting lineup for today’s match.

The first 10 minutes saw a brisk action of potshots taken on the goal or attempts miscued off. An attempt by Rahsidov at 21st minute was deflected by the Al-Nasr custodian safely to the defense.

The first half saw a yellow card for El-Jaish Mendes for an intentioanl tackle on the Al-Nasr forward, leading to free kick. The ensuing free kick was saved by the El-Jaish custodian Khalifa Ababacar. Al-Nasr Ahmed Al Yassi got a yellow card for an unintentional hand, which didn’t look quite either in the replays.

Referee Iida Jumpei (Japan) had a hard time to calm the tempers both the team players as the match went to the water break time.

An attempt of Abdul Magid’s full length shot at the 35th minute went past the right topside of the Al-Nasr’s goalpost. Another of Al-Nasr’s attempt Abdelaziz Barrada 39th minute header was also flying far from the post.

Just before the first half was over the at the 44th minute, Al-Nasr forward Jonathan (11) took control of a superb pass & calmly passing it to Santos Wanderley (9). The El-Jaish defense was caught off guard in this regard with the Al-Nasr’s forwards exposing the El-Jaish’s custodian.

Another attempt by El-Jaish in the dying minutes of the first half by Romarinho went over the bar after a swift pass from Rashidov.

El-Jaish began the 2nd half by introducing the former Barcelona player Keita substituting Ahmad Moein.

A superb pass by Rashidov just missed the edge of Romarinho’s extra leg push, Al-Nasr’s defence were heaving a sign of immediate relief. El-Jaish kept up the pressure on after this with a series of pot shots on the Al-Nasr goalpost.

Frustration was piling on the El-Jaish with Ali Sanad (21) getting booked for another foul.

Another attempt from Jonathan Pritorita (11) supported by a assist from Tariq (5)(C) with a sublime running finish to the back of the left side of the El-Jaish net doubled Al Nasr’s away lead.

Immediately after the restart, El-Jaish Player Magid (12) was booked for an intentional foul.

Rashidov’s attempt at the 73rd minute didn’t quite find the range too. Al-Nasr’s Jonthan’s substitution was given a clapping ovation, their fans knew that the value of his goals scored & assist’s in todays match.

Al-Nasr’s tripled their away lead at the 84th minute with another goal by Santos Wanderley (9) his second for today’s match.

El-Jaish kept up the pressure on the Al-Nasr’s up till the end with Rashidov & Romarinho making several attempt on the goal in the dying minutes.

At the post match press conference Coach Ivan Jovanovic (Al-Nasr) was extremely happy with the results of this match. He commented on the chances that El-Jaish had for this match, but pointed the difference in the match was the timing of Al-Nasr’s goals. He lamented that the weather was a factor, however Al-Nasr kept up the pace in this regard. He also pointed Al-Nasr had a small advantage &  would be keep the same match performance in the return leg too. On the comparison for Ivan’s previous European league & Asian league, he mentioned that the uncertainties of having pre-season break keeps the pressure on these games. To the comment of Santos Wanderley’s performance, Coach Ivan mentioned that he wanted to see this as a total team performance rather than an individual performance.

Coach Lamouchi lamented that he was disappointed with today’s performance especially in the 2nd half & passing of the ball. He kept up his desire to play with a positive attitude in the return leg.To the question of Hamadallah’s absence, he accepted that it did make  a huge difference & commented the situation is bound warranted a solution especially for the mid-field & Mendes would be sitting out in the next game.

The next leg which will be in Dubai would require a lot of effort’s from El-Jaish to cover the lead & Al-Nasr expecting to finish it off in style to seal their semi-final berth too.

“THREE GOALS THAT DESERVE ACCLAMATION” – Al-Khaleej, UAE

They said: Al-Nasr were dazzling in their dominant performance against El-Jaish, with thanks going to new striker Wanderley who scored a brace on his debut with the Blues. “Al-Ameed” will be waiting until September to confirm their qualification, which they all but did themselves with three away goals to nil in Qatar.

We say: Al-Nasr were superb, with El-Jaish looking anything but convincing bar a few moments of excellence from Sardor Rashidov and Romarinho. Seydou Keita started off well after his entrance in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to threaten Al-Nasr who bounced back via Jonathan Pitroipa to score the second and subsequently the third.

“AL-AIN MESS UP HOME LEG AND HAVE IT ALL TO DO AWAY FROM HOME” – Al-Khaleej, UAE

They said:  Al-Ain drew 0-0 with Uzbek side Lokomotiv Taskhent in the home leg of their encounter in the Asian Champions League. Despite the lack of goals, chances were produced from both sides but both defensive line-ups proved too good. For the most part, Al-Ain took control of proceedings in the first half and continued to do so in the second half. However, many chances were wasted.

We say: Al-Ain were probably the better side on the ball but they didn’t look threatening enough to look favourites for the game. Moreover, they face a side who know how to limit the strength of their opposition. In the Round of 16, Lokomotiv used the same tactic to nullify Al-Hilal in Riyadh and successfully eliminate the “Zaeem” (Boss) of Saudi Arabia in Uzbekistan. Will they be able to do the same to the “Zaeem” of the UAE? If Zlatko Dalic doesn’t change something, that will be likely.

“RESOUNDING COLLAPSE” – Al-Arab, Qatar

They said: A shocking and resounding collapse against Al-Nasr left Sabri Lamouchi and co. dumbfounded, with Lamouchi stating that “I don’t know what happened, why this happened.”

We say: El-Jaish need to re-watch Tractor Sazi’s near-completion of a comeback against Al-Nasr in Tabriz to find any way of scoring three goals in the away leg. El-Jaish were shocking, but Lamouchi has a few weeks time to sort things out.

What Zlatko Dalic said of the match: “I’ve had 10 days with my team. It’s not enough, but I believe in them.”

Current form (Asian Champions League): L-L-W-W-D-W-D-W 

Summer 2016 Transfers:

Al-Ain have gone all out to sign one of UAE’s finest in Amer Abdulrahman, who will be partnering Lee Myung-Joo in central midfield. Although doubts were raised as to the similar styles of play that both midfielders offer, no one is doubting the sheer talent and experience that Abdulrahman will bring. Al-Ain now have brothers Omar and Mohammad Abdulrahman alongside namesake Amer Abdulrahman.

Amer Abdulrahman and Caio Fernandes (Al-Bayan)

Caio Fernandes was brought in on the left wing after Ryan Babel’s disastrous half-season at Al-Ain. Al-Ain’s fans are generally impatient with foreigners and with Babel’s disaster comes more impatience. With the next 3 months crucial for any Champions League victory, fans are hoping Caio hits the ground running and performs in the said time frame.

Foreign quota:

Danillo Asprilla (Colombia) – Caio Fernandes (Brazil) – Dyanfres Douglas (Brazil) – Lee Myung-Joo (South Korea)

Al-Ain’s foreign quartet. Top row: Lee, Asprilla Bottom row: Douglas, Caio

Road to the quarter-final:

Al-Ain were all but out of the competition in gameweek 3. Two straight losses to Qatari outfit El-Jaish saw “Dalic out” responses coming out after Al-Ain were also on the verge of losing ground on their title chase with Al-Ahli domestically. They faced the best Saudi team, Al-Ahli, who would soon go onto becoming league champions. Al-Ain were not expected to take any points from their encounter in Saudi Arabia.

An Omar Abdulrahman (as usual) performance led Al-Ain to an unlikely victory in Jeddah, before his free-kick separated the sides during the return leg in Al-Ain helping The Boss to 6 points and back to normal operations. They drew with Uzbek side Nasaf Qarshi in gameweek 5, but Danillo Asprilla popped up to engineer a vital win and achieve qualification to the Round of 16 for the Emiratis.

Zob Ahan were not the hardest Iranian side at this point but they did certainly pose a threat. Lebanese right-back Ali Hamam put in the performance of his life to stop Al-Ain from taking the lead – including a double goal line clearance – but a 1-1 draw was all Zob Ahan could come out of in Al-Ain. The away goal wouldn’t prove important at all for the Iranians who failed to pose any threat of note at home like Tractor Sazi did. Al-Ain were victors and subsequently became the second Emirati side to represent the nation in the quarter-finals.

Key Players:

Omar Abdulrahman: The maestro just doesn’t stop. Improving on his set-piece deliveries over the last season has made him steal the limelight to a greater extent than usual. Yet unlike what many people think he’s not just an aesthetically pleasing player. His tactical role is largely overshadowed by his technical ability. He helps Al-Ain build play (although with Amer Abdulrahman that may no longer be necessary), combine on the flanks and evade players in tight spaces. There is no better player than Omar Abdulrahman in the region – even you, Omar Al-Somah. 

Dyanfres Douglas: The striker leaves Al-Ain fans fighting against each other. Is he good, or is he not? Well, he’s a bit of both. His touch is appalling, although with the relative quality of the defenders in the local league it isn’t too much of a problem. He may struggle against the bigger clubs, but that’ll depend on the role Dalic plays him in. He’s most threatening when inside the box and with Amer and Omar Abdulrahman both building play for Al-Ain and support coming from Asprilla and Caio, Douglas needn’t worry about what is going on behind him.

Lee Myung-Joo: The South Korean market is wonderful. Even the mid-tier players in those leagues become a big part of the Emirati teams’ set-up. Their attitude is on point, they always listen to the manager and they are well-rounded, often multi-skilled players. Lee Myung-Joo is one of those guys. He’s positionally intelligent, great defensively and offers a different dimension in attack. He keeps everything well-connected, and fans love him.

Expected line-up:

Stats compiled by @TheLegendaryMoh on Lokomotiv, who are mid-way through their season unlike Al-Ain who will start their new season tomorrow:

• The team has 9 international Uzbek players.
• Lokomotiv are top of the Uzbek League with 49 points after 19 rounds
• They are currently in the semi-final stage of the Uzbek Cup
• Lokomotiv have scored 49 goals in 19 games; strongest attack in Uzbekistan.
• They also possess the second best defence in the league with 14 goals conceded in 19 games.
• Temurkhuja Abdulkholiqov is the top scorer of the Uzbek League with 16 goals (1 penalty).
• In the last 5 league games, Lokomotiv have won 4 and drawn 1.
• In 19 league games, Lokomotiv have not lost a match.

Come November 2015 and they looked forward to the biggest match in their existence against none other than Asian giants Guangzhou Evergrande. More so, their bid for the Arabian Gulf League title was as strong as ever. In addition to all of these advantages, Al-Ahli possessed a lethal striker and an undefeated record across 14 games since their heartbreaking loss to Al-Nasr in the UAE President’s Cup Final in June.

Guangzhou would be the next team to beat them, very narrowly. Although the Chinese outfit dominated for more than 50% of both legs, Al-Ahli didn’t succumb to any of the pressure. I say Al-Ahli as a team, but Salmeen Khamis was guilty as an individual. Usually a rock at the back, tactically aware and growing by the day – he hasn’t looked back since nodding the winner against Al-Ain during the UAE Super Cup in early 2015.

Ismaeel Al-Hammadi (right) fights off Zhang Linpeng. (AFP)

Retrospectively, Khamis created problems for Al-Ahli in defence. It was Khamis who allowed Elkeson to face Ahmed Dida one-on-one in the first minute of the game (only for the latter to slip in front of goal). It was also Khamis that isolated himself while pressing from the defensive line. This allowed Elkeson and Huang Bowen to overload him, both successfully combining to score the only goal of the game for Guangzhou.

With Al-Ahli just a goal away from glory – as their stalemate in the first leg of the final helped them with the away goals rule – it was Khamis who decided it was time to increase the level of aggression to no avail. Khamis was sent packing by Ravshan Irmatov and this forced Cosmin to shift relatively inexperienced defensive midfielder Humaid Abbas into the right side of defence.

Yet regardless of the end result, which Guangzhou saw out at 1-0, Al-Ahli proved their credentials as dark horses. Nobody expected Al-Ahli to make it out of the group stages let alone win the whole tournament, but it is Cosmin Olaroiu’s grit and determination that has been the basis of their success. His trust in youth is also remarkable in the region. Keep in mind that Al-Ahli have been playing with 3 foreigners for most of their AFCCL campaign, as opposed to the norm of using all four foreigners.

Majed Hassan (centre) battles Ailton Almeida with the help of Salmeen Khamis.

It is his nickname that already sticks out. For such a common name in the Middle East, Ahmed Mahmoud is distinguished by the nickname of legendary Brazilian goalkeeper Dida. For a goalkeeper who played second fiddle to Majed Nasser, he didn’t warrant such a worthy nickname. Or so everyone thought. Majed Nasser’s ban gave way to Dida making his name on the league stage and the biggest stage of them all at his level: the Asian Champions League. All of this had deservedly earned him a place in the Emirati National Team.

Ahmed Mahmoud ‘Dida’

The final question posed to Cosmin Olaroiu and his team: Will we see a West Asian side reach the heights of Guangzhou with a plan and development system? Al-Ahli are in the making of such a team, but only if Cosmin Olaroiu stays – yet this has been his longest reign in the Middle East: 864 days at the time of writing.

تشكيلة الفريقين

تشكيلة الفريقين كانت كما تنبأنا لكن وظائف اللاعبين تغيرت عن العادة و ذلك بسبب اهداف المدربين التي حصلت لتخفيف الضرر من فريق الخصم. المشكلة لفريق الاهلي أتت من أمر غير تكتيكي، و الامر كان الضغط الشديد على الفريق في ملعبهم و امام جمهورهم الكبير في ذات المباراة. على سبيل المثال، هذه المباراة كانت الاولى في 13 مباراة التي شهدت عدم تسجيل القناص ليما اسمه على قائمة الهدافين في المباريات. لكن وصول ليما الى دبي في الصيف للعب مع نادي الاهلي كان عنده آثار تقتصر الاهداف فقط، و هذه الاثار تشمل الضغط الفعال و التواصل بين المهاجمين الذي كان غائبا منذ رحيل غرافيتي و مونوز. هذا الاداء كان الأسوأ للبرازيلي، الذي لم يكن على احسن حالاته و ايضا احمد خليل الذي غاب عن المباراة على الرغم من لعبه ل90 دقيقة.

علاوة على ذلك، مهاجمي فريق جوانجزو لم يكونوا على اقصى جهدهم لكن النادي الصيني كان الاقرب الى هز الشباك، و هذه الفرص و هذا اللعب أتى من فلسفة “كمية الفرص افضل من جودة الفرص”. أظهرة الاهلي القلقة كانت تحت الضغط العالي من جناحي و مهاجمي جوانجزو. لولا المحور المحلي الموثوق ماجد حسن الذي كان يتمركز من بين مدافعي الاهلي لخلق تشكيلة 5 في الدفاع في بعض الاحيان، الاهلي كان سوف يعاني من هدف.

بناء اللعب – جوانجزو

علم مدافعي جوانجزو خطورة مهاجمي الاهلي مع و من دون الكرة: ليما، احمد خليل، اسماعيل الحمادي و ايفرتون. لتخفيف الضغط على مدافع جوانجزو فينغ، أرشد سكولاري المدافع بتعليمه بالتحركات الخاصة بالنسبة لمهاجمي الاهلي. تحرك فينغ بسقوط مركزه على الملعب و ابتعاده من المهاجمين الى العمق – ذلك لتعويض ايقاف المدافع الكوري كيم يونغ غوون – لاستقبال الكرة من الحارس تشينغ.

آثار هذه التحركات كانت احتمال زيادة مهاجمي الاهلي الى عمق جوانجزو و منطقتهم لسرق الكرة من المدافع لكن الفريق الصيني كان واثقاً في هذه الاستراتيجية لبناء اللعب قبل اطلاق الكرة الى الوسط. بالاضافة، فريق سكولاري كان عنده مرونة الاختيارات في بناء اللعب.

لاعب تشارلتون الانجليزي و سيلتيك الاسكتلندي السابق و قائد جوانجزو حاليا، زينغ زي، نسق اللعب بتمريراته المتقنة و تمركزه الواع. سقط مركزه على الملعب و دخل الى خط الدفاع لتعويض تحرك الظهير الايسر لي كجناح في منطقة عالية على الملعب. الظهير اليسر تقدم لكن الظهير الايمن بقى في مكانه و مع زلك تمركز زي من بين الظهير الايمن و القلب الدفاع الايسر للحفاظ على خط دفاع سليم. هذه الاستراتيجية تسمى الغير متماثل او asymmetrical في اللغة الانجليزية. عادة الظهيرين يتقدمان و الاجنحة يدخلوا الى العمق لكن فريق جوانجزو فضل اللعب و التمركز الغير متماثل.

أسلوب هجوم الاهلي

لعب الاهلي جاء من لاعبين فقط: ماجد حسن و اسماعيل الحمادي. عادة الفرسان الاحمر يجدوا انفسهم مع التنوع الى الطرق للابداع، مثلا: ريبيرو، عبدالعزيز صنقور و حبيب الفردان. لكن هؤلاء اللاعبين لم يكونوا على اقصى جهدهم في هذه المباراة. صانع الالعاب البرازيلي ريبيرو كان منعزل، و هذه نتيجة توجيهات كوزمين التي رأت اللاعب على الجناح الايمن. هذا المركز غريب على ريبيرو الذي يجيد اللعب في العمق او في انصاف المساحات.

اشتغل ماجد حسن بوظيفته كالعادة: تسليم الكرة من خارج الخط الدفاعي او دخوله الى الخط الدفاعي من دون الكرة لمساندة زملائه في الحالات الدفاعية. على العكس تماما، اسماعيل الحمادي اشتغل بدور مختلف بالاضافة الى بدايته في المباراة كجناح ايسر. من الجهة اليسرى سقط مركزه الى “نصف المساحة” اليسرى لمساعدة زميله ماجد حسن في بناء اللعب مع غياب اداء حبيب الفردان في خط الوسط.

من هذه النقطة، أظهر الحمادي مهارته العالية مع تحركات مميزة التي سيطرت على مجريات اللعب. مع كل الطاقة التي تجدها مع باولينهو و الهدوء على الكرة من زينغ زي، هذان اللاعبان كانوا غير فعالين في تأمين خط الوسط. مدافعي جوانجزو هما الذان يستحقان المدح.

حيث أن التمريرة الحاسمة عند الحمادي كانت تفتقر الدقة، عندما كان يدمج لعبه مع ليما، صنقور و ريبيرو، الاخير كان يفضل المراوغة و ليس التمريرة! هذه الحركة أغضبت كوزمين الذي اراد الفرص ان تهدد شباك جوانجزو على الاقل.

العرضيات و البحث عن الهدف

المباراة كانت مرتكزة بصورة عامة على موضوع العرضيات، خاصة العرضيات المنخفضة. هذه الفلسفة ليست فعالة و احصائيات تسمى “ExPG” تؤكد فكرة العرضيات الكثيرة. لكن، العرضيات المنخفضة عادة مدروسة و ليست عشوائية. الفريقين أسسا كرتهم الاخيرة على العرضيات المنخفصة. الهدف كان لهذه الانواع من العرضيات ان تستقبل المهاجمين المندفعين. على الرغم من احسن محاولاتهم، ليما و خليل (الاهلي) و غولارت و الكيسون (جوانجزو) أخفقوا في تأثير مجريات المباراة. خاب أمل سكولاري على اداء اللاعبين البرازيليين، و في وقت مبكر من الشوط الثاني استبدل المدرب البرازيلي بمواطنه ريكاردو غولارت و دخّل الجناح يو هانشاو. صحيح ان اداء غولارت كان مخيب للأمل خاصة بعد الاهداف الثمانية التي سجلها على مدار المسابقة،  لكن دوره التكتيكي كان مناسب الا ان اداءه الطبيعي لم يكن جيد لمباراة نهائية. مهاجمي جوانجزو فرغا منطقة 14 و التي تسمى “Zone 14” في اللغة الانجليزية، و هذه المنطقة مركز صانع الالعاب.

مع هذه الفلسفة عند المدربين الاثنان، لماذا لم يدفع المدرب الروماني بعبدالعزيز صنقور الذي يجيد في اللعب كظهير ايمن (لكنه كان متواجد كظهير ايسر) على الرغم من وجود وليد عباس على دكة البدلاء و هو ظهير ايسر(و يمكنه ان يلعب كقلب دفاع) يلعب مع رجله اليسرى؟

خلاصة

أخطأ اولاريو باشراك اللاعب عبدالعزيز هيكل على الجهة اليمنى و البطاقة الحمراء هي توصية لاخفاق اختيار المدرب في مباراة نهائية. اشراك هيكل زادت الضرر و الثغرات في نظام الاهلي و ليست فقط البطاقة الحمراء التي أدت الى اداءه السيء.

من ناحية اخرى، فريق جوانجزو لم يكن موثوق بسيطرته على الاهلي في الهجوم، لكن الدفاع الصيني برع بغياب المدافع الكوري كيم.

The problem for Al-Ahli was that a non-tactical factor, which was the large amount of pressure on them, significantly affected the way they played. For instance, Lima failed to score for the first time in 13 games. Lima hasn’t just brought goals to Al-Ahli but better connection between forwards and efficient pressing to the front line. This performance failed to bring out the best of his forwards and the likes of himself and Ahmed Khalil were non-existent.

Moreover, the Guangzhou forwards were not on top of their game but were closer to hitting the net than Al-Ahli did, in terms of quantity and not quality of chances. The apprehensive Al-Ahli full backs were often under swaths of pressure and relied on slide tackles from defensive midfielder Majed Hassan, who dropped into the defensive line quite often.

Guangzhou build-up play

It was clear that Guangzhou knew the wrath that comes with the Al-Ahli strikers, with and without the ball. To relieve pressure off of their centre backs – especially in the absence of South Korean Kim Young-Gwon – Guangzhou had one of them drop much deeper to receive the ball from goalkeeper Cheng.

This way, the CB is able to release the ball with time on his hand.

The implications of this were the fact that Al-Ahli’s strikers could overload Feng Xioting on the ball, but Guangzhou were fairly confident of receiving the ball under minimal pressure before releasing the ball into midfield behind the strikers. However Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team were versatile and able to vary their forms of getting the ball out of the defence.

Former Charlton Athletic midfielder and veteran Zheng Zhi orchestrated the play from deep the rest of the time. He dropped directly into defence, the right channel to be more specific. This was then met with an asymmetrical form of attack. Guangzhou’s back 4 stayed intact with the exception of Zhi being another centre back while left back Li overlapped and linked up with his teammates on his respective flank.

Al-Ahli attack mode

Al-Ahli’s play came through a couple of players: Majed Hassan and Ismaeel Al-Hammadi. Usually, the Red Knights find themselves with a variety of options that come in the form of Abdulaziz Sanqour, Everton Ribeiro and Habib Fardan. Those three were non-existent and Ribeiro was disappointing on such a big occasion, yet that could largely be put down to his position on the right wing.

Majed Hassan operated as normal, receiving the ball as he strays just ahead of the defensive line or dropping into the defensive line to aid his centre backs. Ismaeel Al-Hammadi had a completely different role, in addition to his placement on the left wing. From the left side he dropped into the middle third left half space, helping isolated Majed Hassan in the build-up play.

From that point, Al-Hammadi would show off his dribbling skills and silky movement to get past the Guangzhou midfield. For all the drive Paulinho offered on the ball, and serenity provided by Zhi on the ball, both weren’t powerful enough to dominate the midfield battle. Guangzhou’s defenders deserve the biggest plaudits, without a shadow of a doubt.

Whereas Al-Hammadi’s final pass was lacking, whenever he combined with other players such as Lima and Sanqour, Ribeiro (on the end of the attack) preferred to maze his way around the Chinese defence instead of looking for a pass or shooting into the open space. This angered Cosmin who wanted to see more shots to test the opposition ‘keeper. 

Low crosses and looking for goal

The game was largely based around this theme – crosses. This doesn’t sound very efficient, with ExPG rates confirming the phenomena about crosses. However, low crosses are usually calculated as they don’t look to aim randomly towards the goal in hope for a deflection into the net.

Both teams based their final product on low crosses. The aim was for these types of crossing to meet their onrushing strikers via their full backs, Sanqour (Al-Ahli) and Li (Guangzhou). Despite their best efforts, Lima & Khalil (Al-Ahli) and Goulart & Elkeson (Guangzhou) failed to affect the game or the end product of their respective teams. It came to a point where Yu Hanchao entered in place of the Ricardo Goulart. Despite his exit early in the second half, Goulart made nippy runs in behind Al-Ahli’s full backs to help the wingers out in attack. Guangzhou vacated Zone 14 and forced the Al-Ahli defenders deeper to allow more space for Paulinho to drive in and distance the strikers away from the defenders.

The pathway to being in place for these crosses was through combination play. Guangzhou attempted this down the left side via their left back or their right-winger on the opposite side. Al-Ahli on the other hand forced their play down the half spaces, more so the left where Al-Hammadi operated in. One would wonder had Sanqour played down the right side (his original position) and Walid Abbas down the left side, Al-Ahli would have: not received the red card on Haikal, have an overlapping right back (a very creative one in Sanqour) and allow Ribeiro to occupy central positions where he works best at. 

Conclusion

Cosmin Olaroiu made a mistake in playing Abdulaziz Haikal and not due to his red card but due to the consequences of making connections within the system. He added energy to the team but that wasn’t what was needed.

On the other hand, Guangzhou weren’t entirely confident of their dominance against Al-Ahli. Their defence was fantastic in the absence of Kim, but their attack wasn’t as sharp on this occasion.