Abu Dhabi Country Club concluded their maiden AFC Women's Champions League group campaign unbeaten after playing out a 2-2 draw with Malaysia's Sabah FA.
Already assured of a place in the knockout round after victory over Wuhan Jianghda and a draw against Hyundai Steel Red Angels, Abu Dhabi ended their Group A assignment in second place on five points while Sabah exited after collecting only a point.
Sabah got off to a fine start with Eri Narita heading in Saki Ueno's cross on 10 minutes. Lara Ivanusa was presented with a chance to level for Abu Dhabi but the Slovenian forward failed to capitalise on a mistake from Siti Nurfaizah, blazing her effort over the bar.
Ivanusa's pace began to cause the Sabah defence problems and the Malaysian side were reduced to 10 women in the 23rd minute when goalkeeper Nurul Azurin Mazlan was shown a red card for hauling down the Abu Dhabi forward outside the box.
Abu Dhabi took advantage with Rashida Ibrahim sending the subsequent free kick into the top corner, beyond substitute keeper Asma Junaidi at the half hour mark.
Eugenia Tetteh’s solo run in the 44th minute then created space for her to slot home after evading Asma’s challenge to send Abu Dhabi into the break ahead.
Despite the numerical advantage, it was Abu Dhabi who were on the back foot in the second half, a flashing Ueno shot across goal reminding the UAE side the result was far from a forgone conclusion.
The Malaysian side continued to dominate and eventually found the equaliser in the 77th minute when Ueno’s corner kick found Intan Sarah, who proceeded to slam her shot into the bottom corner to secure Sabah a point.
In the group's other match, Hyundai sealed top spot with a 2-0 win over Wuhan.
The win meant the South Koreans topped Group A with seven points, two better than Abu Dhabi Country Club with Wuhan Jiangda now reliant on results elsewhere to see if they can progress as one of the two best third-placed finishers.
