Al Ain: Al Ain and Al Nasr won full points in contrasting styles in early 15th round matches of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Saturday.
Al Ain showed why they are The Boss while smashing four in the opening half an hour itself to hand high-flying Ajman a 7-0 thrashing, while Al Nasr got a goal each on either side of half-time against Dibba.
The result helped Al Ain reclaim their top spot with 35 points, while Al Wahda slipped into second (33 points), two better than Al Wasl (31) in third as Al Nasr maintained fourth with 26 points.
In what proved to be a near-perfect display of attacking football, Al Ain were at their imperious best riding on a hat-trick from Egyptian midfielder Hussain Al Shahat, while Sweden’s Marcus Berg, Brazilian Caio Fernandes, young Rayan Aslam and substitute Ahmad Khalil added one each to ensure the 12-time league champions keep their place at the top of the standings.
The visitors’ defence found it increasingly difficult to contain Al Ain strikeman Marcus Berg, who was well served by options created by the quartet of Bandar Al Ahbabi, Rayan Aslam, Al Shahat and Fernandes.
It was a matter of time when Ajman would wilt and that occurred for the first time in the eighth minute when Al Shahat’s shot got deflected off Adeilson de Mello. Six minutes later, Berg doubled the lead after he rose above the Ajman defence to nod in a perfect cross from Fernandes.
Ajman tried to make amends and came close on a couple through De Mello on a couple of occasions only to be denied by Khalid Eissa on goal. That’s when Al Ain took total control finding the goal on two more instances to assert their position at the top of the league.
Al Shahat scored the second of the night in the 25th minute after accepting a through ball from Aslam, while Fernandes got his first of the evening with a rasping drive after receiving from Japanese Tsukasa Shiotani on the half-hour mark and go into the half-time with a 4-0 cushion.
Content with possession, young Aslam got his name on the scoresheet six minutes into the second half when he coolly curled one past the Ajman goalkeeper. National team striker Ahmad Khalil then came off the bench to guide an easy tap-in in the 77th to make it a tennis-like score. Al Shahat then got his well-deserved hat-trick when he slide an Ebrahim Diakhy delivery in the 82nd minute and complete the rout.
This was the 16th all-time encounter between the two teams and the visitors have never won against Al Ain, who have won 13 times and drawn twice. The two teams met for the first time in the 1991-’92 season with The Boss winning 2-0 then.
The highest margin of victory involving the two teams was a 7-1 drubbing inflicted on Ajman during the 2014-’15 season.
