Dibba stun Al Ain in Garden City

Al Ain's Omar Abdulrahman is tackled by a Dibba player.

Lightning struck twice and caused greater damage this time on the club from the Garden City.
Fujairah team Dibba handed Al Ain 'Boss' only their second home loss during the Round 18 match of the Arabian Gulf League at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday.
For Al Ain, the match was an unlucky deja vu of last year. It was in October that Dibba had come back from two goals down to draw the match. Then too, an own goal, had helped. Then it was defender Mohanad Salem and now Khaled Abdulrahman. Making matters worse for Al Ain, Dibba striker Bruno Moraes scored the winner to make it 2-1. The result dents Al Ain's title hopes and boosts Dibba's prospects in te battle between the relegation teams.
It was a high-tempo match as Al Ain went full blast to close the gap on League leaders Al Jazira. The first-half saw an impressive performance from both sides. Dibba's game was refreshingly different and pushing forward they looked more threatening than the home team.
Dibba striker Yaseen Al Bakhit had a couple of chances and a better execution could have seen the visitors go up in the first 45 minutes.
Early on the Jordanian was set to fire a rocket but was timely checked before the launch by Al Ain defender Ismail Ahmed. For the Garden City club, Caio Lucas looked to score each time but didn't. The Brazilian midfielder always made good of Al Ain skipper Omar Abdulrahman's passes but couldn't convert as Dibba keeper Fahad Al Dhanhani stood tall.
Dibba coach Paulo Comelli's defensive network worked to perfection as it was goalless at the breather.
Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic started the second half by bringing in Amer Abdulrahman. Al Ain continued to maintain pressure and finally managed to break Dibba's resistance.
In the 52nd minute, Caio converted from the left flank through a pass from Lee Myung-Joo. However, six minutes later they let the advantage go with an own goal from defender Khaled Abdulrahman.
Following the goal, there was a spring in the Dibba players' legs and they added one more as Bruno Moraes scored. The Brazilian striker converted from Driss Fettouhi's free kick.
Then it was a desperate push by Al Ain to find an equaliser. And they were unfortunate not to have scored again as Lee Myung-Joo found the goal post and cross bar on different occasions, and substitutes Ibrahim Diaky and Saeed Al Katheeri failed to convert from open chances.
Coach Zoran Mamic has much boardroom work to do on defensive flaws. And the Fujairah Club, for a change, didn't look like a team in relegation zone. The result hasn't changed League standings but has made remaining matches more alluring.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com