Dubai: Beating Al Jazira 3-2 away on Saturday was an important step for Al Ain, but it won’t guarantee them the title, says Boss coach Zoran Mamic.
Marcus Berg opened on 11 minutes and Caio missed the chance to make it two from the spot before half-time.
Omar Abdul Rahman made up for it with a penalty on 69 minutes before Romarinho pulled one back on 81 minutes.
Two minutes later Omar added another, while Ali Mabkhout’s 92nd minute strike was too late to make a difference for the hosts.
Al Ain are now four points clear with three games remaining and could secure the title as early as their next game with victory at home to Dibba on April 6 if second-placed Al Wahda lose away to Sharjah.
“Winning has given us three points but it didn’t give us the title,” said Mamic. “We can say the team has taken a good step in the challenge but we have to be careful and deal with intelligence required because we have three rounds and nine points remaining and each game will be more important than the last.”
Elsewhere over the weekend, second-placed Al Wahda beat second from bottom Emirates 2-1 at home on Friday and Al Nasr moved up to third with a 2-1 win at home to rock bottom Hatta on Friday after Al Wasl slipped with a 2-1 defeat away to Al Dhafra on Saturday.
Al Dhafra’s win sees them move out of the relegation zone. Other games saw Shabab Ahli beat Dibba 1-0 away and Sharjah beat Ajman 1-0 at home.
