Home draw with relegated Al Shaab calls time on Dubai’s stay in top flight

Al Wasl sharing spoils with Emirates leaves both sides safe and sends Dubai down

Michael N'dri, centre, of Al Shaab fights his way past Saleh Saidi of Dubai during their Arabian Gulf League match in Dubai on April 27, 2014. Antonie Robertson / The National

DUBAI // Salem Rabea, Dubai’s assistant coach, blamed the club’s two former coaches, Martin Rueda and Umberto Barberis, for the woes of the team after a 1-1 draw with already-relegated Al Shaab on Sunday night confirmed their demotion to Division One.

Dubai started the season with Rueda before replacing him with Barberis in November. Last month, they handed over the reins of the team to Junior Dos Santos.

With only seven games to save the season, the new coach did well to get five points from his first three matches, but a 5-1 loss to Al Dhafra in the last round virtually sealed their fate. They still had a slim chance going into this game, with the task of winning all three matches and hoping that either Al Wasl or Emirates lost all three of their remaining games.

That did not happen. Gilles Yapi Yapo had kept alive their hopes by converting from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, but Ahmed Jumaa’s equaliser for Shaab two minutes from time, coupled with the 1-1 draw between Wasl and Emirates, dashed their hopes.

With two matches to play, Dubai are on 15 points, while Wasl and Emirates are seven points ahead on 22, which means they will return to Division One after four consecutive seasons in the top-flight Arabian Gulf League.

“We have reached this stage because of our last two coaches,” Rabea said. “All our problems are because of them. The new coach tried his best to fix the problems in the team, the problems in defence and attack, but he cannot solve all the problems in four or five matches.”

Rabea was also critical of the attitude of the Dubai players last night, saying they did not “show enough commitment or focus”.

Shaab were the better team on the night and Dubai were lucky to be awarded a penalty when Faisal Ali tripped over Abdullah Saleh. Even Rabea thought it was a questionable ruling, as the defender seemed to get the ball, but the home captain Yapi Yapo put the ball into the back of net to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute.

Perhaps sensing the inevitable, few Dubai fans turned up to support their team. Survival is a tough task for them. They had to beat not just Shaab, but Al Wahda and Al Nasr in their final two matches.

Aware of the equation, the Dubai players seemed a bit deflated and their already-relegated opponents looked much more engaged. Jumaa, especially, was a regular threat and he eventually struck the equaliser that booked Dubai’s ticket to Division One.

"For us, it was a bit easier to play because we were relegated," said Zeljko Petrovic, the Shaab coach. "For Dubai, this was their last chance and they looked nervous. We had so many opportunities on the counter-attack and we could have scored more if the final pass was good.

“I wish Dubai all the best and hope they come back to the top division along with Al Shaab next season, because these two clubs deserve to play in the professional league.”

One the eve of the game, Petrovic was flirting with the idea of resting some of his best players, but he said he decided it would not be “good for the competition”.

“I think it is not fair if you come here and play with a second team,” he said.

“If Dubai had won 4-0 or 5-0, then there would have been questions about whether we gave the game to Dubai. I am a sportsman and I would never do that.”

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