AFC Cup: Al-Jaish hold Omani Fanja

Muscat:Al-Jaish,the powerhouse club of Syria,were held to a goalless draw with the Omani side Fanja in their opening match of the AFC Cup on Wednesday.

Fanja dominated the Group B match at the Seeb Sports Complex but Ely Cisse struck the woodwork and Felipe Lohman saw his fine effort stopped by Al Jaish goalkeeper Taha Mousa as the two sides settled for a share of the points.

The result leaves both teams on one point, two behind group leaders and defending champions Kuwait SC who beat Lebanese side Nejmeh 2-1 on Tuesday,reports the AFC correspondents.

“I’m not satisfied with the result as it was really disappointing not to win the match,” said Fanja coach Hicham Chazouani.

“Our opponents played with a defensive plan and we didn’t have a lot of information about them which affected our game plan.

“We did everything and we tried to score in every possible way but our opponents closed their area and stopped us from scoring. We were the better side and created many chances but we couldn’t score at the end of the day.”

While Fanja had the better of the opening half, they showed little cutting edge up front and did little to trouble goalkeeper Taha Mousa.

Al-Jaish actually crafted the better of the chances in the first half with Sameer Belal firing a 25-metre free-kick straight at goalkeeper Mazin Al Kasbi and Raed Saleh surging through midfield before unleashing a right-footed shot from the edge of the box that was narrowly off target

With Al Jaish committed to defence, often pulling all of their players behind the ball, Fanja continued to dominate after the break and they were unlucky not to go ahead during a goalmouth scramble in the 51st minute when Cisse drove the ball onto the base of the left upright and Lohman saw his follow-up shot blocked by Adham Sharefa.

Al-Jaish were indebted to their goalkeeper in the 65th minute when Lohman took possession on the left side of the box and unleashed a low curling effort that was angling towards the far corner of the net until Mousa stretched out to make a fine diving save.

Cisse should have secured the win with four minutes left when he was found unmarked in the Al Jaish box by Abdul Azai Al Maqbal but the Senegalese striker snatched at the opportunity and sent his effort well over the crossbar.

Fanja continued to apply the pressure as the game to a close and Ahmed Hadid saw his goal-bound shot cleared by Mohamad Zubaida before Saad Ahmad saw his effort skim just over the crossbar.

“Fanja are a good side and they have excellent players which helped them to control the match while we knew how to stop them and the result is good for us,” said Al Jaish coach Anas Makhlouf.

“We asked our players to close the gaps and have a good defensive performance while we also tried to use some quick counter attacks but we couldn’t score. Despite the conditions that we have, our ambitions are big and hopefully we can qualify from the group.”

Mohammad Daoud