Al Ain see off Sharjah but Baniyas relegated from Arabian Gulf League after draw with Emirates

Al Ain's Mohammed Abdulrahman, centre, bursts through the Sharjah defence. Courtesy Aletihad

Al Ain’s hopes of guaranteeing a place in next year’s Asian Champions League received a huge boost on Wednesday, when they came from behind to defeat Sharjah 4-2.

The 2016 finalists, already qualified for the knockout stages of this year’s competition, were made to work for the win at Sharjah Stadium, but did enough to leapfrog Al Wasl into third in the table.

With one match remaining, Al Ain occupy the last qualification berth for the 2018 Champions League, although Wasl face Al Shabab on Thursday in the first of their two final fixtures.

Sharjah took the lead on 16 minutes, when Gelmin Rivas raced away from the visitors’ high defensive line and finished past goalkeeper Khalid Essa. However, within eight minutes Al Ain were back level, although it owed much to woeful goalkeeping from Adel Al Hosani. The Sharjah stopper came to collect Omar Abdulrahman’s overcooked through ball, but somehow fumbled to allow Danilo Asprilla to poke home.

Al Ain looked to have completed the comeback 10 minutes into the second half. Again, their goal resulted from Sharjah’s negligence in defence, with Abdullah Ahmed handling the ball as he jumped inside his own penalty area. Nasser Al Shamrani, the Saudi Arabia striker on loan from Al Hilal, converted from the spot.

Sharjah restored parity on 76 minutes, though, when Amer Omar pounced on Ismail Ahmed’s indecision to place past Essa. The hosts will believe it was nothing more than they deserved, since not long before they had twice struck the Al Ain woodwork in quick succession.

They would have been dismayed, then, by a quick concession. Only four minutes had passed before Hasan Saleh was adjudged, somewhat harshly, to have tripped substitute Mohammed Khalfan in the Sharjah area. Once more, Al Shamrani kept his cool from the penalty spot to give Al Ain the lead.

Two minutes later, Zoran Mamic’s men made safe the victory. This time, Khalfan beat the offside trap to collect Abdulrahman’s through ball, leaving the youngster to turn inside his marker and slot past Al Hosani to clinch a 4-2 triumph.

It means Ahli, who at the weekend relinquished their title to Al Jazira, are not yet assured of second place following their disappointing 1-1 draw at Kalba. Everton Ribeiro put the Dubai club a goal up moments before half time, only for Kalba to equalise through Salam Shaker 10 minutes after the break. Ahli now have 53 points, one point better off than Al Ain.

Elsewhere, bottom club Baniyas’ eight-year stay in the UAE top flight has ended, albeit in extraordinary circumstances. The Abu Dhabi side, needing to avoid defeat at home to 13th-placed Emirates club and for other results to go their way, seemed set for a stay of execution having built a 4-2 lead with four minutes remaining.

However, substitute Ahmed Malalla brought Emirates back into the match with his side’s third, before captain Sacha headed home deep into injury time to nab a precious point. While the result, coupled with Kalba’s share of the spoils with Ahli and Dibba’s 2-2 draw at Al Wahda, consigned Baniyas to the drop, Emirates grasped a real lifeline.

The Ras Al Khaimah side stay one spot from safety, but a win at home to Al Nasr next week could be enough to secure an unlikely escape.

Nasr, meanwhile, warmed up for that encounter with a 1-0 defeat to Jazira. Substitute Ahmed Al Attas notched the winner at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, although the newly crowned champions were grateful to captain Ali Kasheif for saving Abdelaziz Barrada’s first-half penalty.

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