Al Ain down Al Wahda as Shabab Al Ahli go on top

Kodjo Laba scored at the death as Al Ain defeated Al Wahda 2-0 at Al Nahyan Stadium in matchweek 11 of the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday night.

The hosts started on the front foot, when Khalil Ibrahim went up the left flank and sent a ground cross towards Mansoor Al Harbi, whose first time strike went just wide after a deflection off Al Ain’s defender in the 17th minute.

Ten minutes later, it was Al Ain’s turn to try their luck, as Jamal Maroof found Mohammed Abdulrahman inside the box with a great vision, however, the number 16’s effort was denied by the crossbar.

The Boss managed to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute through an own goal by Abdullah Al Refaey. The defender converted Maroof’s low cross into the back of his own net.

In the second half, the Clarets tried to push forward in order to level things up and in the 57th minute, Mohammed Al Menhali sent an accurate cross towards Rim Chang-woo, whose header missed the target by a narrow margin.

In the 79th minute,Khalid Eisa pulled off an excellent save to keep his side in front, as he parried away Yahya Al Ghassani’s close range right footed flick.

The Boss secured the win in the final moment of injury time, as Yahya Nader released Kodjo Laba with a defence-splitting through pass. The Togolese went around Mohammed Al Shamsi and finished calmly into the empty net.

The win takes Al Wahda to the fourth position with 21 points ahead of their anticipated clash against Shabab Al Ahli. Meanwhile, Al Wahda dropped to the eighth spot with 14 points ahead of their trip to Sharjah in matchweek 12 of the AGL.

Meanwhile, Shabab Al Ahli trounced Ittihad Kalba 5-0 in another match. With the iwn, Shabab Al Ahli have gone on the top of the rankings with 26 from 11 points after erstwhile leaders Sharjah dropped points when they were handed the first defeat of the season by Al Dhafra on Friday.