Al Ain maintained their unbeaten start to the Adnoc Pro League season after a 1-1 draw with Shabab Al Ahli on Friday, although the result allowed the chasing pack to close the gap on Friday.
Kouame Autonne gave the league leaders a 44th-minute lead but it only lasted two minutes as Carlos Eduardo was on target for Shabab AlAhli at the Rashid stadium.
Al Ain took their tally to 18 points, two ahead of defending champions Al Jazira followed by Shabab Al Ahli (15) and Al Wahda (14).
Jazira bounced back from their defeat to Shabab Al Ahli in the previous round with a 2-0 triumph over Baniyas at the Mohamed bin Zayed stadium.
Abdalla Ramadan put the host in front in first-half injury time and Abdoulay Diaby doubled the hosts' lead on 65 minutes to leave last season’s runners-up struggling in 12th in the 14-team league on six points.
Wahda, who remain the only other team yet to taste defeat, overcame 10-man Al Dhafra 3-1 for their second successive win after ending a five-match run of draws, which resulted in the departure of manager Henk ten Cate.
Omar Khrbin set the platform for Wahda with a second-minute lead and captain Ismail Matar curled in the second for a 2-0 lead at half time.
Fabio Martins added a third on 69 minutes after Dhafra’s Khalaf Al Hosani was sent off for a second yellow card, before Pedro Pavlo netted a consolation goal for the home side.
Khor Fakkan were on target either side of half-time to emerge 2-0 winners over Ajman.
