Al Ain's Dalic laments defeat to Al Shabab

Dubai - Al Ain stay top with 46 points but would slip to second place if Al Ahli can beat Al Wahda (Friday evening), whilst Al Shabab move onto 26 points.

Al Ain head coach Zlatko Dalic lamented their unfortunate defeat at the hands of Al Shabab as it was first of its kind in two years.
Al Ain, who were missing the services of some key players, were stunned by 2-1 by Al Shabab in front of a their home crowd at the iconic Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain City on Thursday night.
"We had a strong start and scored the first goal in the early stage of the encounter after which we dominated the field and missed a handful of scoring opportunities," Dalic said.
Mohammed Marzooq own goal earned defending champions and pace setters Al Ain an early advantage, but the Dubai side made a strong comeback and goals from substitutes Naser Masood and Dawood Ali denied Al Ain a badly needed full points and put their lead at stake.
Al Ain stay top with 46 points but would slip to second place if Al Ahli can beat Al Wahda (Friday evening), whilst Al Shabab move onto 26 points.
"I had spoken to the players during the interval. I told them to score more goals because 1-0 advantage is very fragile and our opponents had every chance to bounce back and that what has happened," he added.
"We were beaten by ourselves due to unnecessary personal mistakes. In the past, we used to win in the dying minutes of the match, but this is the first time to happen the other way round," he went on.
"I do not want our players and fans to feel upset because of the defeat which could also cost us the lead. But, we need to focus on the upcoming commitment in the group-stage of the 2016 AFC Champions League. There is no unbeatable side and what we need is to correct ourselves. There is a long way to go and too much work to perform.
"Our Colombian striker Asprilla was injured and he will undergo medical examination to assess the extent of his injury," he concluded.
Al Shabab's defender Mohammed Marzooq scored an own goal in the second minute from the start to make it 1-0 for Al Ain. This also was the result at half-time. Aubstitute Naser Masood levelled the result in the 77th minute and Khalid Eissa snatched the winner in the 3rd minute of stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Al Wasl hit a 90th-minute winner to overcome Fujairah 3-2 in a pulsating clash at the Fujairah Stadium.
With two goals in the opening three minutes, there were plenty of ups and downs throughout the match but it was the visitors who came out on top thanks to a brace from Fabio de Lima and a late winning goal from Caio Canedo, cancelling out Hassan Matouk and Patrick Eze's strikes.
Al Wasl stay 4th in Round 19 of the Arabian Gulf League but move level on 33 points with third-placed Al Nasr, whilst Fujairah remain on 19 points and are not yet clear of danger.