DUBAI: Cosmin Olaroiu admitted to contradictory emotions after leading Dubai’s Al-Ahli to a maiden Asian Champions League final on Tuesday, seven years after he coached opponents Al-Hilal to the Saudi title.
The Romanian also took charge of the kingdom’s national team at this year’s Asia Cup and is a veteran of Gulf soccer, having won three league championships in the United Arab Emirates this decade.
“It’s qualification but for me it’s a little bit difficult because against Hilal one eye cries one eye is happy,” Olaroiu told reporters after Ahli’s Kwon Kyung-won netted in injury time to send the 2014 UAE champions through to November’s ACL final 4-3 on aggregate.
Ahli had never reached the ACL knock-out stages before and required an 88th minute winner in their final group game to make the last-16, but will now hope to become the UAE’s first continental champion since Al Ain in 2003.
“Of course I’m happy mostly for my players, they are heroes for what they have done nobody gave them a chance. They are in the final and I told them they don’t have to stop here,” said Olaroiu.
Against Hilal, Ahli were 2-0 up thanks to first half strikes by Brazilian pair Rodrigo Lima and Everton Ribeiro, before the Riyadh outfit’s own Brazilian duo Ailton and Carlos Eduardo provided sublime finishes to put last year’s finalists ahead on away goals.
“Sometimes you need a little bit of luck in football and this time it was on our side,” said Olaroiu.
“In the second half, they created more, but they failed because the intensity they played (at) meant they spent a lot of energy and step-by-step we came back into the game.”
For Hilal, defeat was bitter, especially after being refused a penalty at 2-1 down, Bahraini referee Nawaf Shukralla giving Ahli a free kick for an earlier tug after Habib Fardan had scythed down Abdulla Al-Dosary as the wing-back shaped to shoot.
“We had a very bad performance in the first 30 minutes,” Ahli’s Greek coach Giorgos Donis told reporters.
“In the second half, we played very good football, created a lot of chances, changed the game and had the opportunity to get the ball to win some free kicks but we lost that chance I accept it is my fault.”
Al-Ahli’s Olaroiu in mixed emotions after reaching ACL final
Al-Ahli’s Olaroiu in mixed emotions after reaching ACL final
Bournemouth snap Liverpool’s unbeaten run to up pressure on Slot
- Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position
- Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot
BOURNEMOUTH, UK: Bournemouth ended Liverpool’s 13-game unbeaten run as Amine Adli’s 95th minute strike secured a thrilling 3-2 win for the Cherries on Saturday.
Goals from Evanilson and Alex Jimenez put the home side in a commanding position but Liverpool hit back through Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai to level.
However, Bournemouth won for just the second time in 15 matches after Adli fired in with virtually the last kick of the game.
Defeat will intensify the scrutiny on Liverpool boss Arne Slot with the Reds likely to fall outside of the Premier League’s top four after Sunday’s fixtures.
Slot, who guided Liverpool to Premier League glory last season, had steadied the ship after a run of nine defeats in 12 games earlier in the campaign.
But the Dutchman has attracted criticism for Liverpool’s uninspiring performances, even during their unbeaten run, and they are now winless in five league games.
The Reds put in a commanding performance to beat Marseille 3-0 and close in on the Champions League last 16 in midweek.
But they again struggled when faced with the rigours of breaking down a Premier League defense after gifting the Cherries a 2-0 lead.
The visitors dominated the ball throughout, but were made to pay for two defensive lapses in seven first-half minutes.
Van Dijk was too casual as he tried to flick Marcos Senesi’s ball over the top behind for a corner and Alex Scott pounced to cross for Evanilson to hammer home.
In trying to prevent the goal, Joe Gomez picked up an injury to further deplete Liverpool’s already threadbare options at center-back.
The visitors were down to 10 men as Wataru Endo waited to replace Gomez when Bournemouth doubled their lead.
Milos Kerkez was caught sleeping on his return to the Vitality Stadium to allow Jimenez to sneak in behind and slot in his first Bournemouth goal.
Van Dijk atoned for his previous error to begin the Liverpool fightback when he headed in Szoboszlai’s corner.
- Reward for positivity -
Andy Robertson replaced Kerkez at half-time despite being linked with a move to Tottenham before the transfer window closes in just over a week’s time.
Liverpool had little to show for their domination of the ball in the second period until Szoboszlai’s strike sparked a wild finale.
The Hungarian slotted a free-kick under the Marseille wall on Wednesday and this time used a flick from Cody Gakpo to work an angle to blast into the far corner.
Almost straight from kick-off, Liverpool needed Alisson Becker to produce a brilliant save from Ryan Christie to prevent Bournemouth retaking the lead.
Evanilson then wasted a glorious chance to win the game when the Brazilian slotted wide with just Alisson to beat.
Bournemouth could also have lost it when goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic made a fine save to prevent Florian Wirtz from finding the bottom corner.
But Andoni Iraola’s men were rewarded for going for the win when Adli smashed in from a narrow angle after Liverpool failed to clear a long throw.
Victory lifts Bournemouth up to 13th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
