Valencia 1-1 AYL: AYL move to fourth

Male', MALDIVES - All Youth Linkage (AYL) moved to fourt spot in the league after drawing 1-1 with Club Valencia in todays match of Dhiraagu Dhivehi League.

AYL was bottom of the league table with just one point after the first round. But their revival in the second round which saw them win four matches in a row, and are now fouth with 14 points. BG sports are 5th with 13 points. Valencia stay in third with 17 points.

In the 12th minute Abu fired a shot but Valencia’s goal keeper made a good block. Abu got a second chance on the rebound off Faisal but his second attempt went wide.

Valencia’s stand in striker Akram got a good chance to take the lead in the 21st minute but his shot from inside the box went wide off the post. In the 35th minute Akram made another good shot which was again off target.

Valencia took the lead in the 57 minute when Abdul Rasheed Mahir netted a wonder goal. A low cross from a corner kick was hitted to the path of Mahir, who launched a fierce shot from out side the box which hit the bottom corner of the net.

But AYL equalized in the 71st minute when Abu finished off a half chance from inside the box.

After the match Valencia’s coach Mohamed Shiyaz said that he was not pleased with a draw. But he had no complaints about the performance of the players.

“In regard to the numerous chances that we created I am not happy with a draw. But today the performance, work rate and discipline of the players were excellent. I am very happy that such young players in the team are giving such and excellent performance” Shiyaz said.

Shiyaz said that he had no option but to play Akram as a striker and could not blame him for his missed chances.

“Akram is not a natural striker and right now he is playing with an injury. But I put him as a striker because he is the most likely to pose a threat. Even though he missed many chances I cant blame him,” Shiyaz said.

AYL’s coach Ahmed Nashid said he was pleased with the result.

“We performed very well in four or five consecutive matches but now some players have small inuries to cope with. We did not perform well in the first half but in the second half we did well. We got back from a goal behind and managed a draw,” Nashid said.