Douglas fires a brace to put Al Ain back into contention

Dubai - Douglas scored in each half of the match, which Al Ain dominated before securing a victory that leaves the continued participation of Al Ahli in peril.

Brazilian striker Dyanfres Douglas scored a brace to help Al Ain pull themselves back into contention for a place in the knockout phase of the 2016 AFC Champions League with a convincing 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
This was Al Ain's second victory in a row over the Saudi side and moved the inaugural ACL champions into second place in Group D and onto seven points, three fewer than leaders El Jaish from Qatar, with two matches to play. Playing a good game, Douglas scored in each half of the match, which Al Ain dominated before securing a victory that leaves the continued participation of Al Ahli in peril. Al Ahli did manage to claim a stoppage-time consolation goal through Saleh Al Amari.
Elsewhere, Yuki Muto's second-half match-winner left title-holders Guangzhou Evergrande teetering on the brink of a shock AFC Champions League exit as they suffered a 1-0 loss to Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday. Muto's header seven minutes after half-time consigned Luiz Felipe Scolari's super-rich Chinese champions to their second loss in four games and left them rooted to the bottom of Group H.
With two matches to go, winless Evergrande have just two points so far, five points off second place and a spot in the last 16, with their title defence about to end. The five-time defending Chinese Super League champions looked anything but winners in a cauldron atmosphere as they faced Japan's Urawa and their massed ranks of fans in Saitama. If not for some agile keeping by Zeng Cheng, the scoreline could have been worse for a team having in their ranks ex-Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho and former Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez, their record signing.
Urawa's victory put them to second in Group H behind Sydney FC, who are now on the verge of the knock-out stages with a 1-0 home win over South Korea's Pohang Steelers. Milos Ninkovic grabbed the winner for Sydney, who now have nine points from four games, in the 51st minute and at the second attempt after two Pohang players failed to clear the ball.
Elsewhere, in Group F, free-scoring FC Seoul lost their perfect record after they were held to a 0-0 draw by China's Shandong Luneng, with Brazilian sharpshooter Adriano unable to add to his nine goals so far. And Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima kept up their bid for the knock-out stages after they downed Thailand's Buriram United 2-0 in the away match.