Al Ain settled a five-goal thriller at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, sealing a 3-2 win over Al Wasl in matchweek 20 of the ADNOC Pro League on Tuesday.
Laba Kodjo put Al Ain ahead at the half-hour mark when Al Wasl's goalkeeper failed to properly clear the ball which fell to the Togolese forward who sent it into the back of the net.
Five minutes later, the visitors were close to restoring parity when Ali Salmeen wasted a dangerous chance when he raced on to Jefferson Douglas' superb pass, but his effort from outside the penalty box went just inches wide.
Three minutes before the two teams headed to dressing rooms for the break, Al Wasl were awarded a penalty for Bandar Al Ahbabi's elbow on Douglas in the box.
Brazilian forward Gilberto Oliveira stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to restore parity.
At the hour mark, Al Ain were given the lead again when Soufiane Rahimi sent a brilliant cross to Caio Canedo into the penalty area with latter beating an Al Wasl defender and curling a left-footed shot into the back of the net.
Ali Saleh brought the visitors level again after Hassan Ibrahim whipped in a brilliant cross from a corner, which Saleh converted at the far post nine minutes before the match time.
Two minutes from time, Kodjo sealed the victory and snatched the three points for his side, when met Cristian Guanca's cross with a powerful header that nestled into the back of the net.
The result means Al Ain maintain their lead at the top of the ADNOC Pro League with 49 points, while Al Wasl remain in seventh place with 26 points.
Send feedback
