Al Ain came from behind to defeat leaders Sharjah 2-1 at Sharjah Stadium in matchweek 16 of the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday night.
The first chance of the game fell to Al Ain’s Wilson Eduardo, as his long-range effort sailed wide of goal.
On the other hand, Sharjah were more decisive as they broke the deadlock on the 10-minute mark, thanks to Caio Lucas’ opener. The home side launched a quick counterattack and the ball fell to the Brazilian midfielder who sent a left-footed strike into the bottom corner of the net.
Igor Coronado missed a valuable chance to double Sharjah’s lead before the half-hour mark, as his effort lacked accuracy and landed inches wide.
Sharjah keeper Darwish Mohamed was called into action as he pulled off a fine save to deny Khalid Al Blooshi’s strike from outside the box.
As the King seemed to be headed into the break with a 1-0 lead, Yahia Nader netted the equalizer in injury time, as he fired a powerful long-range effort that hit the woodwork before settling into the back of the net, leaving Sharjah keeper helpless.
Al Ain keeper Khalid Eisa denied Luan Pereira’s close-range effort before it was cleared by the defence.
The Boss completed their comeback with less than 20 minutes to go, thanks to Kodjo Laba’s goal. Sharjah keeper blocked Shoya Nakajima’s initial attempt before the rebound fell to the Togolese forward who tapped home what turned out to be the winner.
Eisa continued to impress as he blocked another close-range effort from Welliton Soares, before denying Marcus Vinicius’ attempt.
This marked Sharjah’s second defeat of the season, as they remain at the top with 36 points, three above Al Jazira who have a game in hand. Meanwhile, Al Ain jumped temporarily to fourth place after raising their tally to 27 points.
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