Goals from Danilo Arboleda, Ahmed Barman, and Laba Kodjo helped Al Ain pull off a 3-0 victory over Emirates in matchweek 15 of the ADNOC Pro League on Friday at the Emirates Club Stadium.
Kodjo needed just four minutes to open the scoring for the visitors when Emirates' goalkeeper Abdulla Ibrahim had clattered into the Togolese player, who found it easy to tap the ball into the empty net, but the goal was ruled out for a foul after the referee consulted the VAR.
The ADNOC Pro League top scorer hit the post in the 13th minute when he met Bandar Al Ahbabi's cross with a powerful header from six yards out.
Al Ain were awarded a penalty kick in the 15th minute after Al Ahbabi was pulled down in the box.
Kodjo stepped up, but his effort was brilliantly saved by the home side's keeper, Ibrahim, in the 16th minute, missing his third penalty out of 14 during the ongoing season.
Danilo Arboleda broke the deadlock after 27 minutes when Cristian Guanca sent over a cross, which the former met with a stunning header from six yards out into the bottom left corner.
The hosts' goalkeeper continued making excellent saves throughout the match, with Kodjo's powerful header from the six yards box parried out in the 40th minute to keep the result 0-1, before heading to the dressing rooms for the break.
Seventeen minutes after the restart, Guanca teed up Al Ahbabi on the right-wing before the Emirati right-back brilliantly cut inside the penalty area and sent in a low cross into the six yards box - Emirates' defence failed to properly clear and the ball fell to Ahmed Barman, who curled a right-footed shot from outside the box past Ibrahim for his third goal from outside the penalty area.
Kodjo cemented his side's lead in the 71st minute when he smashed in Soufian Rahimi's cross in from the six yards box, taking his tally to 15 goals in the ADNCO Pro League.
Al Ain's victory kept up their six-point lead at the top of the ADNOC Pro League table with 36 points, while Emirates remained bottom with 5 points.
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