Al Ain went joint top of the Arabian Gulf League table after a dogged 1-0 win at Al Wasl last night.
The victory came courtesy of Mohammed Abdulrahman’s 18th minute strike as he swept home from just inside the Al Wasl area to take the Boss level on points with leaders Al Jazira, with a game in hand.
When the 26-year-old Abdulrahman opened the scoring after 18 minutes, it looked as if Zlatko Dalic’s side would ease through the gears.
But the visitors did not have things all their own way, the Croatian’s charges frustrated by a determined Wasl who showed why they have become such a combative team since Gabriel Calderon took over in October.
Al Ain won the corresponding fixture 2-0 at the Hazza bin Zayed in their opening game of the season, so Wasl will rightly feel that progress has been made.
Abdulrahman’s crisp finish owed much to the persistence of Al Ain’s star man Jires Kembo-Ekoko, who surged into the Wasl box and cut the ball back for the midfielder to fire home.
Kembo-Ekoko had earlier drawn a foul on the edge of the box, from which Miroslav Stoch brought a fine save out of Wasl ‘keeper Yousif Abdulla, who then saved from Abdulrahman after Kembo-Ekoko had sent him clear.
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, had opened the doors of Zabeel Stadium for free to the public for the match, but the visitors promptly put up the shutters.
Wasl offered plenty going forward, with Ederson Alves, joint third in AGL goalscoring stakes with nine, looking the most likely home player to threaten Khalid Essa’s goal.
He found some space after half an hour and curled a delightful shot goalwards, with Essa flying to his left to pluck the goal-bound effort out of the air.
He also saw a fierce 20-yard drive deflected wide before the break.
Clear-cut chances were far more fleeting in the second half, Kembo-Ekoko looked stunned not to get a penalty when he went down in the area while Al Ain wasted a flurry of late opportunities.
Dalic might not be satisfied with the margin of victory, but he will be pleased to keep pace with Eric Gerets’ free-scoring Jazira outfit, whom The Boss have a game in hand on.
The top two meet in a mouth-watering clash at the Hazza bin Zayed on March 8.
Elsewhere, Ajman gained a point in their battle to avoid relegation with a 1-1 draw at home to Dhafra.
Midfielder Abdullah Abdulqader opened the scoring in the 25th minute for the visitors with his first goal of the season.
After five straight defeats, Ajman stopped the rot with Brazilian Rafael Crivellaro netting an equaliser with 18 minutes remaining.
