Al Ain held to a draw at home by impressive Hatta in Arabian Gulf Cup

Action from the match between Al Ain and Hatta. (Supplied photo)

The new season of UAE football started on a bright note for Hatta at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Monday night.
The Group A bottom-dwellers in last season's Arabian Gulf Cup, managed a creditable 2-2 draw against Al Ain in the latter's backyard.
Mahir Jasem and Fernando Gabriel scored two early goals for Hatta. Al Ain responded with goals in either half from Yousef Ahmed and Caio Fernandes to eke out a draw.
Despite the heroics and a chance going begging for a win, Hatta will be happy with a point against Al Ain. They were without a win or even a draw in the Cup competition last season. So, this was a top result for the Dubai-based team.
The first goal was a fantastic show of how much Hatta have improved over the years.
There were a flurry of passes before Brazilian striker Samuel Rosa drew the defenders out from left flank and passed to a well-placed Mahir Jasem, who angled the ball into the goal to make it 1-0 in just five minutes. Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic was disappointed with the way the goal was scored. And 20 minutes later, another Brazilian, midfielder Fernando Gabriel, made it a two-goal advantage. It was a stunner of a free-kick that sailed past goalkeeper Mohammed Abo Sandah, into the right corner of the net.
Just when Hatta were controlling the game, Al Ain responded on a counter-attack. As Hatta pressed players forward, Yousef Ahmed made good on a pass from Khalid Khalfan to pull one back. Hatta players contested for an off-side but the goal stayed.
And in the second half, Al Ain had the momentum and earned a penalty for a foul on Rashed Muhayer. Caio drilled it into the left top corner to level the score.
It was an intense end to the match with a lot of tackles. Al Ain ended with 10-men as Saeed Juma collected a second booking.
This was a great start to the Cup competition with a hard-fought match.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com