Things are definitely looking up for Al Jazira.
Days after a place in the AFC Champions League was memorably secured against Xavi’s Al Sadd on penalties, they put any lingering relegation fears to rest with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Al Shabab.
For once, the gloom on Sunday was restricted to their sinking opponents.
The Pride of Abu Dhabi could not have chosen a better time to face the hosts. Star foreign trio Carlos Villanueva, Azizbek Haydarov and Henrique Luvannor were absent, they had been dumped out of Asia by Bunyodkor in midweek and lost three of their last four Arabian Gulf League fixtures to slump down to seventh.
Coach Caio Junior – against the club with whom he lifted the 2011/12 President’s Cup – could now not be blamed for expecting the worst as rumours swirl about his position.
Yet, nothing is straightforward with the Pride of Abu Dhabi. Their degeneration from second place last term to hovering above the relegation zone provides a better barometer than the progression against Al Sadd.