Al Ahli braved a nervous encounter as they edged out lowly Dubai Club 4-2.
Goals from Ahmad Khalil, Luis Jimenez (2) and Ciel gave Al Ahli back their six point lead at the top of the table – at least until tomorrow when second placed Shabab take on Al Ain.
But Dubai Club, who are scrapping away in the relegation zone, pushed the champions-elect all the way with goals from Jehad Fadel Al Hussein and Dramane Traore.
Al Ahli claimed before the game that their recent troubles – coach suspensions, point deductions and FIFA cases – had served only to galvanise the team and they wasted little time in proving their point.
With star striker Grafite suspended, his replacement Ahmad Khalil needed just 54 seconds to get on the scoresheet with a smart finish when put through one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
It may have been a clinical finish but it came as a result of some severely lacklustre defending.
A otherwise hopeful long ball from the depths of the Al Ahli half sat nicely for Mohammad Jamal who needed only to nod the ball to safety. Instead, the hapless defender barely even pretended to clear the ball, allowing Khalil to run in through on goal where he kept his composure to tuck the ball inside the near post.
While the opening minutes may have been action-packed the same could not be said about the next half an hour when Khalil was presented with a near-identical opportunity, only from a tighter angle and this time he failed to find the net.
For a team desperate to make up for lost points, Al Ahli were happy to knock the ball around with little urgency only creating another two solid chances before the hour mark, a well-saved strike from Ismael Al Hammadi and a free kick from Viana.
Their lack of urgency would later come back to haunt them when Syrian midfielder Jehad Fadel Al Hussein was given the ball in the final third after a conspicuous dive from Abdelaziz Husain gave up possession.
The lively Al Hussein then lashed a bullet past Saif Yousif to put the side's level and Dubai Club should have gone a goal up a minute later but substitute Faisal Ali failed to put in a parried shot from barely a yard out, inexplicably hitting the crossbar.
An Ahmad Khalil jet powered retort at the other end brought back Al Ahli's dominance even if it didn't bring back their lead.
What was a drab encounter morphed into a pulsating final 30 minutes.
Saif Yousif had to be alert to keep out another Dubai Club thunderbolt while Al Ahli pressed relentless, if always fearful of a breakaway.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, the roar of relief burst out of the Rashid Stadium as Luis Jimenez slotted in a rebound from Khalil's parried effort.
The next all-stadium outpouring would be more joyful than relieved when Ciel rose to nod in Jimenez's deadly inswinging free kick 10 minutes from the whistle.
But there would only be silence a moment later when Dramane Traore headed in Rami Yaslam's dug out cross from point blank range.
The Rashid Stadium would finally be allowed to breath out once again when Jimenez headed in a late second at the same moment the final whistle blew.
