Abu Dhabi: Al Ain have surely ended Al Jazira's fading Arabian Gulf League title hopes after the defending champions' comfortable 2-0 home win on Friday evening condemned Abel Braga's men to their third defeat in seven games.
Two fine finishes from Lee Myung-joo and Fellipe Bastos settled a disappointing encounter bereft of goalmouth incidents, which means the Boss take a three-point lead at the top of the AGL over second-place Al Nasr on 15 points.
Al Jazira are 10 points behind the table-toppers after another limp display, which will heap more pressure on beleaguered boss Abel Braga.
The Brazilian had returned to the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium amid significant fanfare in the summer after replacing the sacked Eric Gerets, having been the last man to have secured the league title for Al Jazira in 2011.
Gerets must be sporting a wry grin back home in his native Belgian after many felt he was unfairly dismissed after leading Al Jazira to second place behind Al Ain on the back of a scintillating cocktail of attacking football last season.
But Braga's strugglers offered scant resistance and showed little urgency, particularly in a second half, when they created nothing of note; astonishing given the must-win nature of the game.
It was a case of death by a multitude of passes, as Al Ain monopolised possession after Lee's goal, with Omar Abdul Rahman displaying his usual sumptuous array of tricks and flicks.
However, Zlatko Dalic's men had few opportunities of their own, despite their dominance.
But it was Bastos, whose curling free-kick was Al Ain's best efforts of the second half after it was tipped over the bar by Al Khaseif, who decided matters at the death.
He picked up the ball in Al Jazira's half, jinked to the left of the box, before producing a composed, angled finish in the final minute of injury time.
Earlier, Lee had combined beautifully with Al Ain skipper Abdul Rahman, the pair exchanging a one-two before the South Korean rifled a shot into the top corner from inside the box.
