Al Ain’s slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup were extinguished after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Dibba last night.
Second-half substitute Khalifa Ibrahim scored twice at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and Tareq Ahmed converted a penalty for Dibba to clinch victory to allow them to leapfrog their opponents into third in Group B with seven points.
Al Ain have garnered six points from their six group games and miss out on a semi-final spot.
Ahmed put the visitors ahead in the 52nd minute and Ibrahim, who replaced the Ivorian forward Boris Kabi, doubled the lead with his first touch 10 minutes after being introduced.
Ibrahim then extended the lead to 3-0 in the 70th minute before Saeed Al Katheeri scored a consolation goal eight minutes from time.
In Group A, Baniyas secured their first win in this year’s domestic cup competition, at the fourth attempt, thumping Emirates 4-0.
Suhail Al Noobi scored either side of half time to set the platform for the home side.
Joaquim Larrivey made it 3-0 with four minutes remaining and Saleh Al Menhali completed the rout with a strike in injury time.
Jires Kembo-Ekoko’s goal on 10 minutes was enough for Al Nasr to clinch a 1-0 win over Al Shaab and move the Dubai club top of the group.
The result took their tally to 10 points from their six matches, but they face an anxious wait to see if they make the knockout rounds with Al Ahli and Al Wasl, both on eight points, still have two games each left to play.
apassela@thenational.ae
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