Al Orooba ended a three-match losing run by collecting a valuable away point in a fiercely contested 1-1 draw against Khorfakkan at Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi in Matchweek 22 of the ADNOC Pro League on Thursday.
The hosts took the initiative from the start and were rewarded for their attacking endeavours with the opening goal on the 20-minute mark when centre-back Abdullah El Refaey rose unopposed to head home Dodo’s cross from the corner.
Al Orooba drew level in the 33rd minute after Ahmed Murad was brought down inside the box by Masood Suleiman, prompting the referee to point to the spot and Gianluca Muniz stepped up to take the resulting penalty, powering into the bottom corner for the equaliser.
Aylton Filipe saw several chances missed across the two halves, most notably hitting the woodwork in the 27th minute and being denied by goalkeeper Ahmed Al Hosani after the hour mark as Khorfakkan failed to find a winner that would have mathematically confirmed their survival in the top flight.
With the points shared, Khorfakkan remain 11th with 22 points, 11 points clear of the drop zone with four games to go, while Al Orooba stay a point ahead of bottom side Emirates, with 11 points to their name.