Relief was the key word as Al Ain navigated their way into the President’s Cup quarter-finals on Saturday night.
Relief after a 4-0 win saw them avoid an embarrassing slip up to Ittihad Kalba, who finished a distant last in the Arabian Gulf League during 2014/15 while they charged to the title.
Relief after a damaging run of two-successive losses which caused top spot to be relinquished to Al Ahli and their 2016 AFC Champions League campaign to begin with a whimper was brought to an end.
And for January addition Douglas, there was an instant recovery to help set up a last-eight meeting with Al Wasl.
The Brazilian striker rebounded from Wednesday’s wayward display against Qatar’s El Jaish to net a double and reward the constant encouragement from the stands at Al Wasl’s Zabeel Stadium for this round-of-16 opener.
Vigilant Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic uncharacteristically watched his squad warm-up from the touchline, eager to instil the importance of this tie against a side sat outside the promotion spots in UAE Division 1 Group A.
UAE star Omar Abdulrahman tussles for the ball.
The sight of former Steaua Bucharest forward Mihai Costea ballooning a golden chance over in the first minute wouldn’t have helped his nerves.
There was no need for Dalic to fret about an upset, especially with UAE superstar Omar Abdulrahman in delightful form.
The playmaker nonchalantly clipped in a 23rd-minute free-kick from the edge of the box to put the favourites ahead, Douglas soon kneeing in substitute left-back Saeed Mosabah’s cross before painfully barrelling into the post.
Little v large in #PresidentsCup as lower-league @IttihadKalba play #AGLeague champs #alainfc @Sport360 https://t.co/OiiAErTJLG
— Matt Monaghan (@mattmonaghan360) February 27, 2016
Boss centre-backs Ismail and Mohamed Ahmed made sloppy errors to give Kalba a boost after the break, replacement centre-back Yaser Aljneibi also striking a post from distance with a skimming set-piece.
All hope was soon squashed. Veteran midfielder Ibrahim Diaky placed a fine effort high into Mohamed Al Baroudi’s goal, before Douglas dinked in a second for his fifth goal in seven appearances.
