DOHA: Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates have one foot in the semifinals of the AFC Champions League after a convincing 2-0 victory on Tuesday over Saudi Arabian giants Al Ittihad.

Ismail Ahmed and Asamoah Gyan scored in the second half of their quarterfinal first leg in front of a capacity crowd at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

The match produced some excellent football despite the hot and humid weather in the Emirates’ Garden City.

The two former Asian champions had clashed twice in the group stages with Al Ittihad winning one and the second match ending in a draw.

But Al Ain were clearly motivated by thousands of cheering home fans as they dominated the game throughout and emerged deserving winners.

Ahmed broke the ice with a volley from inside the box in the 48th minute and Ghanaian Gyan, the lynchpin of the side in the group stages, grabbed the second in the 61st minute.

Gyan’s goal was his 11th in the tournament, comfortably ahead of Saudi striker Nasser Al-Shamrani, with seven.

Meantme, the unlikely AFC Cup run of Vietnam side Vissai Ninh Binh looks set to end at the quarter-final stage after the club ripped apart by a match-fixing scandal were beaten 4-2 at home by Hong Kong’s Kitchee in the first leg on Tuesday.

Ninh Binh’s owners withdrew the team from the V.League 1 after the scandal broke in April when 11 players admitted to illegally betting on matches, including their AFC Cup group win against Malaysian side Kelantan.

The guilty party, nine of whom face trial later this month, were suspended by the Vietnam Football Federation, with more players departing the 2013 domestic cup winners as they looked for a team with regular matches.

But despite the gutting of their playing stocks, Ninh Binh’s youth players stood up to the continental task and, under the guidance of head coach Nguyen Van Sy, won their final group game 4-1 at Yangon United and then beat India’s Churchill Brothers in the last 16.

Kitchee, though, proved a tougher nut to crack in the last eight of the second tier Asian club tournament.

The Hong Kong outfit led 2-0 and then 3-1 on Tuesday before Le Van Thang scored a brilliant volley to cut the deficit and set up a nervy last 15 minutes as they pushed for an unlikely draw.

But a horrendous error by home goalkeeper Tran Buu Ngoc in stoppage time gifted Spanish striker Juan Belencoso a second goal of the game and put the tie firmly in the favor of the Hong Kong side ahead of next week’s second leg.

Next Tuesday’s clash at Mong Kok Stadium a likely last match before Ninh Binh begin life in V.League 3 and attempt to claw their way back to the top.