Al Ain took a significant step towards winning the UAE Pro League title after achieving a thrilling 3-2 victory over their direct rival, Shabab Al Ahli, on Friday at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in the match of the 22nd round. Al Ain increased their points total to 56, widening the gap with Shabab Al Ahli to four points, with the latter's total remaining at 52. Al Ain presented a clear attacking performance from the start of the match against Shabab Al Ahli, asserting relative superiority in terms of possession. Amadou Niang almost scored early with a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, but Shabab Al Ahli's goalkeeper Hamad Al-Maqbali turned it into a corner kick. The same player and goalkeeper faced each other again after a clear one-on-one with the goal, but Al-Maqbali continued his brilliance and saved the attempt. Later, Blasius missed another chance for Al Ain after dribbling from midfield and shooting over the bar despite being close to the goal. Shabab Al Ahli's first threat came in the 35th minute when Sardar Azmon broke through Al Ain's defense, but his shot went over the bar. Towards the end of the first half, Rami Rabiah gave Al Ain the lead, capitalizing on a shot by Abdelkarim Traore to turn the ball into the net with his heel (44). At the start of the second half, Shabab Al Ahli quickly equalized through Yuri César, who followed up a cross by Bala and slotted the ball into the net without any interference from Al Ain's defense. Bala later almost gave his team the lead with a powerful shot that pierced Al Ain's defense, but goalkeeper Khaled Eisa brilliantly saved it. Al Ain regained the lead after a corner kick taken by Blasius, the ball went over everyone's head to reach Laba Kodjo, who converted it into the net with his chest and foot (56). However, Yuri César again equalized for Shabab Al Ahli, executing a free-kick that deflected off Kako and changed direction, settling to the right of the goalkeeper (67). Yuri César almost added a third goal for his team in the same way he scored the equalizer, but the brilliance of Al Ain's goalkeeper Khaled Eisa prevented it, as he cleared the ball for a corner kick. Khaled Eisa continued his impressive performance by brilliantly saving a shot from Bala that was aimed at a difficult angle. Substitute Hussein Rahimi, the younger brother of his teammate Sofian Rahimi, scored a goal after following up a rebound from the crossbar, but the VAR technology intervened and disallowed the goal for offside. However, Hussein Rahimi then managed to score the winning goal for Al Ain, after dribbling with the ball and ending with a precise shot that settled to the left of the goalkeeper (87).
