Jammeh’s Kazma draws Al Orouba

Yousef Naser scored an 86th minute free-kick as Abdou Jammeh’s Kazma snatched a 1-1 draw against Yemen’s Al Orouba in Group B on Tuesday to remain on course for a place in the last 16 of the AFC Cup after maintaining an unbeaten record.

Fatai Adisa Alao’s 57th minute penalty appeared to have handed the visitors revenge for last week’s 2-1 home defeat by Kazma, who knew a third win of the campaign would secure passage to the last 16 with two games to spare.

But with four minutes remaining at Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Naser struck to leave Jammeh’s Kazma level on points with Iraq’s Arbil at the top of the table with both sides holding identical records after four games, and Al Orouba three points off the pace with just two games remaining.

“Personally, I’m not satisfied with the result but we are still on the top of the group which means things are not that bad,” said Kazma coach Milan Máčala. “I have warned the players about the quick attacks of our opponents who took the lead from a penalty through this technique.”

“We created several chances but we failed to score as Al Orouba’s goalkeeper was good and had we scored from our chances, we could have got the three points and a better result.”

In the penultimate round of fixtures in two weeks, Kazma entertain fellow table-toppers Arbil following the 1-1 draw between the pair on Matchday One, while Al Orouba will look to take advantage of any slip ups in Kuwait City as they face already-eliminated East Bengal.

“Our players played well and I’m really sad that we failed to maintain our lead in the game and lost two important points which could have made things different for us,” said Al Orouba coach Mohammed Al Nufiay.

“I have asked the players to concentrate on the flanks of Kazma because they use them a lot and we managed to stop them. However, we lost concentration in the last minutes and it cost us.”

With Al Orouba seeking revenge for last week’s setback after the home side let slip a one-goal half-time lead to suffer a first defeat of the campaign, the visitors created the first real chance after 29 minutes as Mohammed Ali Al Dughish drew a smart save from goalkeeper Shehab Kankone.

Al Orouba were dealt a blow 12 minutes before the break as striker Abdellah Sharyan was forced off with blood streaming from a head injury. But three minutes before the hour mark, Al Orouba took the lead as Nigerian defender Alao beat Kankone from the penalty spot after Shaaban Naggar had been fouled inside the area.

Al Orouba, though, again failed to hold onto their lead as Naser guided a free-kick past visiting goalkeeper Muaadh Abdulkhaleq with four minutes remaining.