Al Ain retain AGL top spot after Omar Abdulrahman-inspired victory over Al Wada

Omar Abdulrahman came off the bench for Al Ain to score the winner against Al Wahda. Satish Kumar / The National

AL AIN // Omar Abdulrahman inspired Al Ain to rally from a goal down to clinch a 2-1 thriller over Al Wahda and retain their two-point lead over Al Ahli in the Arabian Gulf League.

Ahli had moved to the top of the table following their 1-0 win over Al Wasl in the early game but Al Ain came back with a strong second half with two goals to send the majority of the 18,126 home fans into wild celebrations.

Sebastian Tagliabue put the visitors ahead before Al Ain’s Brazilian forward Douglas equalised, and Abdulrahman found the net with a dipping free kick at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

Tagliabue collected a long ball, cut inside the area, rounded the Al Ain centre-back Mohanad Salem and knocked the ball it past Khalid Eissato put the visitors ahead two minutes before half time.

Al Ain midfielder Felipe Bastos was unlucky when his free kick crashed against the post 10 minutes into the second half.

However, Al Ain were not to be denied when Douglas broke the offside trap on a pass from Salem to fire a close range shot into the roof of the net.

The Brazilian could have put the hosts ahead had he been on target six minutes later but that slip-up did not prove costly as Abdulrahman found the back of the net from 30 yards out.

Man of the match — Omar Abdulrahman

The Al Ain midfielder’s presence alone is enough to fire up his teammates. Al Ain cancelled Wahda’s lead two minutes after his arrival from the bench before his dipping free kick secured the points for the home side.

What they said

Zlatko Dalic, Al Ain coach: "Al Wahda played better than us in the first half. They were aggressive. We had a nervous first 45 minutes but we shouldn't be playing like this. In the second half we made a few tactical changes and Omar Abdulrahman's entry made all the difference.

“We played a nice game in front of our fans. Wahda played with a young team and they played an aggressive game.

“It is not unusual when you provide opportunities to new players. They want to prove themselves to win a permanent place in the line-up.

Javier Aguirre, Al Wahda coach: "We can take some comfort from this game because we played quite well in this defeat. We are trying out were playing against the champions."

When asked what was going through his mind when they went into the break with the lead, he said: “I knew the second half was going to be tougher than the first.

“They have more players in the bench who could come in and change the game for them. After all, they are the champions and we lost to a side who are deemed to be one of the best in the country.”

The National’s verdict

Al Ain proved they are made of sterner stuff. They did not let their lead slip after Al Ahli had moved a point clear with victory over Al Wasl in the earlier game. They way they raised the bar when needed in the second half and regain the two-point advantage show they remain the title favourites.

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