Rayan Yaslam netted the winning goal as Al Ain defeated Al Wahda 1-0 at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in matchweek 7 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday.
The first real chance of the game came around the quarter-hour mark when Al Wahda’s Yahya Al Ghassani’s effort from the edge of the box sailed wide of goal.
The Clarets’ continued to threaten Al Ain’s goal as they wasted another goalscoring chance in the 22nd minute. Ismail Matar played a sublime through pass to Mohamed Barqesh, whose strike hit the side netting.
Five minutes later, Al Ain’s Mohamed Abdulrahman tried his luck on Al Wahda goal, but his effort went over the bar.
Al Ain missed a golden chance to take a 1-0 lead just before the break when Salem Abdulla’s cross found Kodjo Laba inside the box, but the Togolese forward sent the ball high.
Al Wahda came close to going 1-0 up just after the restart as Khamis Esmaeel fired the ball over Al Ain keeper Khalid Eisa but his effort hit the bar.
The Clarets continued to pile up the pressure as a cross from Matar hit the woodwork before Tahnoon Al Zaabi sent the rebound high.
Against the run of play, Al Ain opened the scoring four minutes after the one-hour mark. After a teamwork effort, the ball fell to Tsukasa Shiotani inside the box as he crossed it to Rayan Yaslam who fired home to hand his side a 1-0 lead.
Kodjo Laba then missed a chance to double Al Ain’s lead as he beat off Al Wahda keeper Mohamed Al Shamsi yet failed to find the back of the net.
Al Wahda thought they levelled the scoreline 15 minutes from time, but Khalil Ibrahim’s effort was ruled out for a handball after reviewing the VAR.
Matar then converted a freekick over the bar to wrap up the action at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium with a 1-0 win for Al Ain.
Following the win, Al Ain moved to fourth place on 14 points, one point above Al Wahda who sit fifth.
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