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Dibba shock Al Ain

Could it be the start of a slide or just a minor blip? Only time will tell but title chasers Al Jazira, Bani Yas and Al Ahli were given a glimmer of hope by Dibba Al Fujairah.

The basment dwellers handed leaders Al Ain a shock 1-0 defeat in the Etisalat UAE Pro-League away at the Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium on Thursday night.

Luiz Fernando capitalised on a defensive lapse to fire the match-winner on 33 minutes and then defended stoutly to send Al Ain crashing to their second defeat this season. Al Ain only other loss came in the League opener against Al Ahli but have done and dusted all in their wake, thereafter.

Al Jazira, who were nine points behind Al Ain, cut that deficit down to six after defeating Al Dhafrah 4-1 at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium later in the night.

Luiz Da Silva Aives of Al Shabab and Samuel Ocran of Dibba Al Fujairah in action. — KT file

Fernandinho scored in the 33rd minute and Ricardo Oliveira added the second in the 58th minute. Anas Bani Yaseen gave Al Jazira a third after scoring an own goal in the 79th. Ali Ahmed Mabkhout then added the fourth in the third minute of stoppage time. Al Dhafrah pulled one back through Makhete Diop in the 82nd minute. Al Jazira had lost 1-2 to Al Dhafrah in the away leg.

Bani Yas, who too are nine points adrift, can bring it down to six if they defeat Al Shaab away on Friday night. Al Ain have 40 points. Al Ain had defeated Dibba Al Fujairah 5-1 in the away leg. It was Dibba Al Fujairah’s third victory this season after earning promotion but by far their most memorable and famous one. Their two other wins came against Al Wasl and Al Dhafrah. Dibba Al Fujairah are second from the bottom with 10 points as they attempt to avoid relegation.

Al Ain coach Cosmin Olaroui’s decision to bench star playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, who was carrying a niggle, may have proved costly in the final analysis.

Al Ain did start strongly though with the League’s top scorer Asamoah Gyan, who started after coming on a substitute in the previous game, having a look in at the goal. Jires Kembo Ekoko and Ali Al Wehaibi too came close a couple of times.

Dibba Al Fujairah defended resolutely and relied more on counter-attacks. And they did take the lead on 33 minutes through Luiz Fernando. Ismail Ahmed fumbled with a back pass and Fernando pounced on the opportunity to drill his left-footer past goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman. Al Ain hit back with a couple of attempts but Gyan was denied by the woodwork as his header hit the cross bar after a corner.

Then, Alex Brosque’s attempt was cleared as Al Ain felt the absence of Omar in midfield. Omar did come with 25 minutes left on the clock but the Dibba Al Fujairah water-tight defence didn’t let anything get through them.

Dibba Al Fujairah then held on for six nervous minutes of stoppage time to complete a famous win.