Al Ain started their campaign in the FA competition with a 3-0 win over Dubai's Al Ahli. The winners led 2-0 at half-time.

Both sides missed some key players who are currently on National duty and played the game with only one professional each. Joel Tiehi from Ivory Coast led Al Ain and Moroccan Rasheed bin Mahmoud led Al Ahli.

Al Ain had the upper hand in the opening minutes and their efforts were soon rewarded. In the fifth minute of play, Tiehi's rocket - like shot off a free kick outside the box went straight into the right corner of the goal. He also scored the third goal for the winners.

Inspired by this early goal Al Ain took full control of the game. However their opponents recovered quickly and came back into the game after a shaky start.

They played a balanced first half but squandered a number of chances that came their way. Rasheed bin Mahmoud came close to level the score, but defender Hassan Abdullah - who joined Al Ain from Ahli Fujairah this season - made a fine interception at the expense of a corner in the 30th minute.

Faisal Ali made it 2-0 when he was put clear and got the better of goalkeeper Ali Saeed in a one-to-one situation. Al Ain were the better side in the last ten minutes of the first session. They could have doubled their score had it not been for Tiehi who squandered two sitters within four minutes.

In the second session both sides missed a number of sitters. Substitute Isa Murad of Al Ahli was unhappy to see his perfect shot off saved brilliantly by Al Ain custodian only 14 minutes after the break.

After that the play was mostly confined to the midfield. Al Ain's third goal came when Musabah Salim sent a long pass to Tehi inside the box. Tehi chested the ball and shot straightaway into the goal.

Referee Musalm Ahmed showed the yellow cards to brothers Abdullah and Salim Ali from Al Ain and their team-mates Ali Masary, Ishaq Mohammed and Jasim Akbar from Al Ahli.