Al Ahli remain unbeaten after 1-0 win over Al Ain

Al Ahli 1, Al Ain 0

Al Ahli:

Grafite 32'

Man of the Match:

Ismail Al Hammadi (Al Ahli)

DUBAI // Seven rounds gone, and it appears Al Ain are ready to abdicate their throne.

There was no official passing of the crown on Sunday night at the Rashid Stadium, but the coronet the champions have worn so well for the past two seasons seems to have significantly slipped.

Al Ahli would not admit it, yet, having emerged from the campaign's most anticipated encounter with their 100 per cent Arabian Gulf League record intact, they are already deemed worthy successors.

"It's only a small step," said Catalin Raducan, the Ahli assistant coach, who stood in for the suspended manager Cosmin Olaroiu. "But it's an important one. Until now, we haven't achieved anything. We have many matches left in the league, and we hope to continue in this way." That five clubs currently separate these two combatants in the table should not deflect from the magnitude of the result. Ahli and Al Ain represent the teams many consider the division's most genuine title contenders and a previous eight-point deficit has become a seemingly unassailable 11. The gap between the UAE's mightiest sides is now a chasm.

Even at this early stage of the 2013/14 campaign, Al Ain's ruthless reign looks poised to be overthrown.

"We have to continue to work really hard. We have other games to play in the league and still have targets," said a visibly deflated Quique Sanchez Flores, the Al Ain coach who parachuted into the club in late September.

By then, Al Ain were already playing catch-up, as a punctured pre-season under Jorge Fossati culminated in two defeats from their opening three league matches.

Despite steady improvement with Sanchez Flores, the Garden City side are quite obviously giving ground to their opponents, and their struggle continued for much of the clash with Ahli. While the hosts are short of their best, they just did enough to surface from an uninspired encounter with an inspirational victory. For Sanchez Flores, a dull return to his former club hints at darker times ahead.

"This is the situation," he said. "I'd like to have trained this team from July, but that's not been the case. When we play against Al Ahli, or Al Nasr, or any teams, the others have an advantage because they've trained together the past three or four months. We haven't had that.

"But we have to fight in these circumstances, and the players must give their best. Eleven points is what it is, but we can't think about the future."

While he should not want to dwell too much on the past, Cosmin Olaroiu will be glad that, for now, Al Ain remain in his rearview mirror. Prevented from taking his place in the home dugout because of a three-match ban, the man who guided Al Ain to their two latest titles could be found in the stands celebrating a hammer-blow victory.

He could afford himself a wry smile, especially as the fallout from his acrimonious departure may have provided the catalyst to put the brakes on Al Ain's championship ambitions.

"The players missed the head coach, so they went on to the pitch determined to show their quality and that they are strong without him," Raducan said. "They did just that."

Al Shaab and Ajman battle to a 4-4 draw

Al Shaab and Ajman played out a 4-4 draw at Khaled bin Mohammed Stadium on Sunday night, with four goals coming in a hectic final 10 minutes.

The hosts were up 3-1 before Ajman stormed into a 4-3 lead late. Essa Ali rescued a point for the hosts in injury time.

Munoz lifts Baniyas past Emirates

Carlos Munoz, who played for Chile against England at Wembley last week, won it for Baniyas in the 71st minute with his second goal, ending a two-game league skid.

Luis Farino also scored. German Herrera and Alhusain Saleh netted for Emirates.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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