Champions Al Ain scrapped for an undignified and barely deserved 3-0 victory against the battling 10 men of long relegated Al Shaab to extend the Arabian Gulf League title battle into another week.
This game encapsulated 2016 for Zlatko Dalic’s men so far. Simply not good enough.
Three goals inside the final 30 minutes – and only after the impressive Mansour Alblooshi had been red-carded – was harsh in the extreme on the visitors.
Douglas’ goal just after the hour broke the brave resilience of Stefano Cusin’s men who, up until that point, had looked more likely to break the deadlock.
Douglas (r) scored the key goal
Zlatko Dalic was in the dugout for his 100th game in charge of the Boss, although he did not feel like celebrating after the final whistle.
“We didn’t play how I wanted but we cannot play always the best game. I won’t analyse too much this game, I want to forget about it,” said the Croatian.
“My team are maybe looking forward and did not have enough concentration because they played against a team who are down and they think it will be easy, but we didn’t have an easy game. Nothing in life is easy. You must deserve it.”
Italian counterpart Cusin, who took the reins at Shaab following Walter Zenga’s dismissal in February, was buoyed by his side’s display.
“I am very happy with and proud of my team,” he said.
Man of the Match result.. Congratulations Douglas @alainfcae #alainfc pic.twitter.com/174bC5uMbJ
— Al Ain FC - EN (@alainfcae_en) 24 April 2016
“I think we played a great game while we had 11 on the field. Even with 10 we had two or three chances to come back into the game.”
The Commandos have a paltry six points from 24 games and were sent down weeks ago, yet they showed more fight throughout the 90 minutes against a team trying to claim a fifth AGL crown in four seasons.
They hit Mahmoud Al Mas’ near post direct from a corner just after half an hour.
Humaid Abdalla, Abdulla Eissa and Alblooshi all failed to convert good chances as the away side grew in confidence, with Al Ain reduced to pot shots from distance.
Their only chance of the first period was when Danilo Asprilla was blocked at close range by Shaab stopper Obaid Altawila.
Ibrahim Diaky thought he had scored early in the second half but his point blank header was brilliantly kept out by Altawila, although the breakthrough was not far away.
First they were given a helping hand, Alblooshi shown a second yellow card for a crude lunge on Al Ain’s talisman Omar Abdulrahman.
Even after Alblooshi’s exit, Shaab poured forward confidently.
Intricate play from Jose Eduardo and Humaid Abdalla saw the latter cut inside a flimsy Fellipe Bastos challenge and fire across Al Mas and just wide of the far post
They then had penalty appeals turned down when Ahmed Alzari played a one-two with Eduardo and went down, though contact seemed minimal.
UAE playmaker Abdulrahman then intervened, freeing Douglas to fire home in the 62nd minute.
Relief quickly turned to a river of late chances as Shaab tired, substitute defender Sultan Saif turning Khaled Abdulrahman’s cross into his own net with 12 minutes remaining.
Douglas doubled his tally with a calm finish six minutes from time to put a gloss on victory that flattered the hosts.
