Al Ain have plenty left to play for
Last February, when the Arabian Gulf League resumed following a 45-day break for the Asian Cup, the title race seemed headed for a close finish.
Al Jazira and Al Ain, with a game in hand, were level on 27 points, while Al Shabab (26) and Al Wahda (25) were close behind.
All those expectations have come to nothing as Al Ain cruised to their third title in four seasons with three matches to spare.
There is still plenty to look forward to in the remaining matches though.
Al Ain players told to focus on Asian Champions League preparation
Top of the list will be Asamoah Gyan’s quest to become the top non-Emirati goalscorer of all time in the league.
The Ghanaian has scored 95 goals in league matches since moving to Al Ain at the start of the 2011/12 season and is only four behind Anderson’s record of 99.
The Brazilian scored those goals in 128 appearances for Sharjah and Al Wasl between 2002 and 2009.
If Gyan manages to break Anderson’s record before the end of the season, he will move to eighth on the league’s all-time top scorers’ list, behind Fahad Khamees (166), Mohammed Omar (132), Adnan Al Talyani (129), Abdulaziz Mohammed (127), Yousuf Atiq (117), Ahmed Abdullah (117) and Faisal Khalil (114).
On the team front, winning their remaining three games will enable Al Ain to match Al Ahli’s 2013/14 record for the most points (64) and most wins (20) in a season.
Zlatko Dalic’s men will also be keen to maintain their unbeaten record at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium this season.
Al Ain have 11 wins and a draw with only one game left to play at home, against Baniyas on May 1.
The battle for Asian Champions League spots
Jazira, Shabab and Wahda will surely be disappointed about not putting up a better fight for the title, but their season is far from over.
All three have expressed their determination to finish in the top four and, potentially, earn a spot in next year’s Champions League.
That task will not be easy. Jazira have lost their past two matches and play Sharjah, Shabab and Al Wasl in the remaining three games, none of whom can be deemed lightweights.
Shabab have also looked vulnerable with only two points from their past three matches and the ghost of last season, when they took just two points from their final six matches, could be haunting them as they get ready to face Fujairah, Jazira and Al Dhafra.
Wahda seem to have recovered from their shock defeat at Fujairah with wins over Jazira and Dhafra in the past two weeks, but they face Al Ain, Ahli and Al Nasr in their remaining matches.
So there will be no dearth of excitement in the coming weeks as the trio battle to keep their place in the top four, with Wasl and Ahli challenging them.
Changes cost Ajman
After four consecutive seasons in the professional league, Ajman seem headed back to Division One.
The battling draw against Al Shabab on Friday has bought them some time and mathematically they can still survive if Dhafra (who play Baniyas, Sharjah and Shabab) lose all their matches and Ajman beat Wasl, Emirates and Fujairah in their remaining games.
While it is not impossible, the task looks highly improbable.
So once the season is over and the post mortems have begun, Ajman will know they probably erred in not renewing coach Abdulwahab Abdulqadir’s contract, only a year after he was named the league’s coach of the year.
The decision to part ways with Simon Feindouno, one of the best foreign players of last season, was also questionable.
Stability was the prime reasons for Ajman’s stay in the top division and their ability to punch above their weight.
The clamour for change has cost them dearly.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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