Al Ain were denied the start to life in their new home they craved as Makhete Diop’s late strike ensured they were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Dhafra.
The Boss were by far the better side and despite a nervy evening in front of goal appeared to have secured a winning start at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium when Ismail Ahmed headed them in front with 15 minutes remaining.
However, Diop made them pay for their profligacy with a well-placed header of his own before Ahmed was denied an injury time winner by an offside flag that should never have gone up.
The result was another setback in what has been a frustrating season under Quique Sanchez Flores, and while the visitors celebrated on the pitch the home supporters were forced to trudge to the exits in disbelief.
They had arrived, in their thousands, to check out their team’s dazzling new home, with the result considered a formality. Indeed many had not been able to take their seats as the game got under way.
Those who trickled in during the first half were at least not made to miss the stadium’s first ever goal, largely due to efforts – often theatrical – of Dhafra ‘keeper Mohammad Ghuloom.
The former Bani Yas custodian was his usual colourful self, failing to ever look entirely comfortable while keeping out goal-bound efforts from Omar Abdulrahman, Mirel Radoi, Ibrahim Diaky and Gyan.
On the two occasions that Ghuloom was beaten in the first half, his team-mates came to his aid with both Hasan Al Hamadi and Bilal Najjarine clearing off the line.
Dhafra offered very little going forward in the opening 45 minutes, but they could easily have found themselves a player down in the opening 20 minutes as Abbas stamped on Abdulrahman as the playmaker lay prone on the ground.
While the former Al Jazira midfielder could argue he was merely trying to hurdle the UAE star, there was no real attempt to get out of his way.
The ground staff might just have been happy Abbas didn’t make contact with the pitch, which needed a great deal of attention at the break.
Sanchez Flores handed Yassine El Ghanassy, signed from Gent on Thursday, an Arabian Gulf League debut at the beginning of the second half, and he wasted little time in showing his new fans what he could do.
The Belgium international almost scored his first Al Ain goal within 10 minutes of coming on, but saw his effort blocked by Mohammad Qassim after some excellent hold-up play from Gyan.
Moments later the forward wriggled into the box, only to flash a drive into the side netting before Ghuloom did well to get his body behind a curling effort from the edge of the box.
With the game ticking into its final 20 minutes, the crowd began to get nervy. However, driven on by Radoi – playing what appears to be his final game for the club – Al Ain refused to take their foot off the gas and were rewarded with just over 15 minutes left as Ahmed rose to head home an Abdulrahman corner.
The goal was met by a deafening roar, but the sense of relief and celebration that met Ahmed’s opener turned to dispair with five minutes left as Diop nodded Abdullah Abdulqader’s cross past Khalid Essa.
Gyan fired wide from a good position before Ahmed was denied a second goal with less than 30 seconds left.
