Gyan sees red in Asian Champions League

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan took an early shower when Al Ain pipped Al Hilal 2-1 at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium but his side missed the slot to play in the grand finale in the AFC Champions League after a 4-2 aggregate scoreline in the semi-finals.

Japanese Myeong - Ju Lee gave the home side the lead just 10 minutes into the first half after an assist from influential midfielder Omar Abdulrahman to bring back hopes of overturning a 3-0 deficit they suffered in the first league, but Nasser Al Shamrani pulled even for Hilal in the 65th minute after latching onto a perfect pass and calmly placing the ball beyond the reach of Al Ain goalkeeper Waleed Salem.

Gyan, after several attempts to hit the back of the net, became frustrated and went in with a career-threatening tackle forcing Fifa referee Ravshan Irmatom from Uzbekistan to brandish a straight red card at the Ghana international in the 70th minute.

The 29-year-old was furious with his send off but left the pitch sorrowfully after lots of protest.

Head coach Zlatko Dalic made strategic substitution by bringing on Mohanad Salem for Stoch in the 74th minute and it worked to perfection as J. Kembo-Ekoko put Al Ain back to the driving seat four minutes later when Mohamed Ahmad assisted and Al Ain puffed and huffed but could not find more goals to send them into the finals.

Gyan has scored 12 goals in this season's AFC Champions League campaign. Al Hilal are expected to meet the winner of FC Seoul and Western Sydney Wanderers.