The duo of Ahmad Al-Arsan and Ivorian Jean Ahwa led Al-Faisaly to their first victory in the AFC Champions League Two, shining in scoring and creating goals against Oman’s Al-Nahda in a match played yesterday at Amman International Stadium in front of 6,995 fans.
اضافة اعلان
Ahwa opened the scoring for Al-Faisaly in the 30th minute, converting a precise through ball from Al-Arsan. The two players then switched roles in the 76th minute, when Ahwa cleverly passed the ball to Claudio Maradona, who set it up for Al-Arsan to score the second goal.
In the other match in the same group, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Taawoun secured an exciting 2–1 victory over Qatar’s Al-Rayyan, moving to the top of the group with four points. Al-Faisaly sit second with three points, ahead of Al-Rayyan in third place on goal difference, with the Qatari side also on three points. Al-Nahda dropped to fourth and last place with one point.
Al-Faisaly will play their third match in the tournament on the 28th of this month, hosting Al-Taawoun at Amman International Stadium in the third and final round of the first half of the group stage.
Al-Faisaly entered the match with several changes to their usual starting lineup, as Egyptian head coach Tarek Mostafa sought to give a number of players an opportunity, alongside forced absences caused by injuries across different positions.
The “Blue” side began with Abdullah Al-Fakhouri in goal and a four-man defense comprising Ihsan Haddad, Ahmad Abed Rabbo, Saidou Simbori and Mohammad Haddad. The midfield consisted of Nour Al-Din Al-Rawabdeh, Jean Ahwa and Ghaith Al-Madadheh, while Ahmad Al-Arsan, Majdi Attar and Claudio Maradona led the attack.
Al-Nahda’s English head coach, Scott Calderwood, meanwhile, relied on Fayez Al-Rashidi, Amjad Al-Harthi, Mohammad Al-Rawahi, Ghanem Al-Habsi, Ahmad Al-Kaabi, Harib Al-Saadi, Peters Boumal, Jamil Al-Yahmadi, Javan Anderson, Youssef Nasser and Mohammad Al-Ghafri.
The first genuine chance of the match came in the second minute for the visitors, when Al-Ghafri broke through on goal against Al-Fakhouri, but the Al-Faisaly goalkeeper dealt with the ball comfortably.
Al-Faisaly’s response came in the 26th minute, when Ahwa unleashed a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, only for Al-Rashidi to make an excellent save.
Brazilian Maradona missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the 29th minute. After getting past the goalkeeper, he hit a weak shot that was cleared by the defense. One minute later, his teammate Ahwa found the net.
The opening goal came after Ahwa received a perfectly weighted long pass from Al-Arsan, broke through on goal and chipped the ball over goalkeeper Al-Rashidi to put Al-Faisaly ahead in the 30th minute.
Al-Faisaly controlled possession after scoring as they sought to extend their lead. Al-Arsan came close to adding a second in the 41st minute after receiving a precise cross from Ihsan Haddad on the right, but his header went narrowly wide.
The hosts maintained their lead until halftime despite Al-Nahda’s attempts to get back into the match.
Al-Faisaly’s performance inexplicably dipped at the start of the second half, allowing Al-Nahda to push forward and threaten Al-Fakhouri’s goal, while the hosts relied heavily on counterattacks.
Defender Ahmad Abed Rabbo suffered an injury that forced him off the pitch, with Anas Badawi coming on in his place. Mostafa then made another tactical substitution, bringing on Anas Al-Awadat for Majdi Attar in an attempt to revitalize the attack and regain control.
Al-Fakhouri denied Al-Nahda an equalizer in the 73rd minute, brilliantly saving a close-range shot from Al-Ghafri and turning the ball behind for a corner.
Al-Faisaly breathed a sigh of relief in the 76th minute when Ahwa backheeled the ball to Al-Arsan, who sprinted from the halfway line toward Al-Nahda’s goal before unleashing a powerful shot that found the right side of Al-Rashidi’s net, securing the second goal at a crucial moment.
The goal gave Al-Faisaly a comfortable advantage in the closing minutes after they capitalized on a counterattack to extend their lead, following a period of pressure from the Omani side.
Mostafa later had to make three substitutions at once. The most notable was goalkeeper Al-Fakhouri’s departure due to injury, with Nour Al-Din Bani Attia replacing him. Aoun Al-Maharmeh and Salah Al-Yahyai also came on.
Both teams missed several chances in stoppage time before the referee blew the final whistle, confirming Al-Faisaly’s 2–0 victory and their first three points in the tournament.
Al-Arsan named man of the match
Al-Faisaly player Ahmad Al-Arsan was named man of the match by the match commissioner appointed by the Asian Football Confederation, following his direct contribution to both of his team’s goals.
Al-Arsan scored the second goal and assisted the first. Statistics showed that he completed 21 passes with an accuracy rate of 66.7%, including five long passes.
He also contested one challenge for the ball and took three shots, two of which were off target, in addition to one attempt to win back possession. He capped an impressive performance in which he played the leading role in guiding his team to victory.
