The Arabian Gulf League title race took a fascinating turn as champions Al Ain were held at home by 10-man Al Nasr on Sunday night.
After seeing leaders Al Ahli edge past Al Jazira earlier in the day, Zlatko Dalic’s side were unable to match their result in a game from which the visitors will feel aggrieved at not taking all three points.
They opened the scoring through defender Masoud Sulaiman early in the second half and could have been 2-0 ahead but former Hazza bin Zayed Stadium-favourite Jires Kembo Ekoko saw his spot-kick saved brilliantly by Khalid Essa.
Al Ain equalised through Ibrahim Diaky following Tariq Ahmed’s red card, but were unable to find a winner.
In contrast to recent poor form domestically, the Blue Wave were rampant for an hour, led by the returning Kembo Ekoko.
At the other end, Lee Myung-Joo’s goal was ruled out for a foul on Sulaiman before Douglas found the bar from Omar Abdulrhman’s fine lobbed pass as the hosts belatedly got to grips with the contest.
The game exploded into life seven minutes into the second half when the visitors went ahead.
Kembo Ekoko’s driving run and shot brought a fine stop from Essa but from the resulting corner, Sulaiman nodded in Mahmoud Khamis’ delivery.
That moment lit the fuse. Just as the hosts gathered themselves, referee Hamad Yousef awarded the Blue Wave a penalty.
Luis Jimenez tricked his way into the box and was felled by a combined Ismail Ahmed and Mohamed Fayez foul. Kembo Ekoko struck his effort with venom but Essa did superbly to palm it away.
From a chance to go 2-0 up, Nasr were then reduced to 10 when midfielder Ahmed was dismissed. Ahmed seemed to make little, if any, contact with Mohammed Abdulrahman. But the theatrics of the Al Ain man were enough to see a second yellow card produced.
Nasr defended doggedly, but Dalic’s side were given a lifeline with six minutes remaining. Omar Abdulrahman’s corner was flicked on and replacement Diaky showed poise to bring the ball down before powerfully volleying past Ahmed Shambieh.
He could have made himself a hero with the very last kick of the game, but he poked his effort straight at Shambieh.
