Football: Al Shabab and Al Ain split points

Al Ain's Lee Myung vies for the ball with Ruud Boijmans from Al Shabab during the Arabian Gulf Cup match at Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Monday.

Hosts Al Shabab twice squandered their lead against Al Ain and had to settle for a solitary point in a Group B match in Round 5 of the Arabian Gulf Cup tie at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium on Monday night.
The 2-2 draw pushed The Hawks into second position after Al Ahli moved to the top earlier in the day thanks to a 3-1 win away at Dibba.
Shabab, it was, that struck first blood with only eight minutes on the clock when Manei Mohamed caught goalkeeper Mohamed Bu Sanda completely off guard with an angular left-footer from the top of the box that nestled into the top far left corner of the net.
Rattled by that goal Al Ain got their act together and in the 14th minute Fawzi Fayez showed silken touch when trapping a long ball from Mohamed Abdulrahman but his finishing touch left a lot to be desired.
There was no denying The Boss the equaliser for long and in the 22nd minute Abdulrahman, marshalling the midfield with poise, found Caio on the halfline. The Brazilian was quick to spot Danilo Asprilla with a 30 yard long ball. The Colombian, with two defenders closing on his heels, executed good ball control, sidestepped goalkeeper Hassan Hamza and calmly placed the ball into an empty net.
The hosts should have regained the lead in the 28th minute but Ruud Boymans missed a sitter with only Sanda at his mercy. They didn't have to wait long though to take the lead when the fleet-footed Dawood Ibrahim floated the ball from the right into the box and Luvannor Henrique rose above the defenders to head home.
The Hawks' lead was short-lived three minutes from half time as Al Ain equalised again, through a penalty from Dyanfres Douglas, after the Brazilian was brought down by Mahmood Qasim, who was booked with a yellow card.
After the break Asprilla found Caio who beat the off-side trap but could not beat onrushing Hassan Hamza. The same combination worked wonders again by exposing the Shabab defence only for Caio to see his shot deflect off a defender and go wide.
Al Ain pressed for the winner and Douglas came close in injury time with a superb header but Hamza saved The Hawks from certain defeat by lunging high to tip the ball away.
Al Ahli's Waleed Ambar gave the Red Knights the lead when his low cross was turned into his own net by Dibba defender Talal Hamad.
On resumption Waleed Ambar turned in Rodrigo Lima's assist to go 2-0 up in the 61st minute. By the 65th minute it was 3-0 for Ahli as Lima himself found the net, but in the 74th minute Dibba pulled a goal back through substitute Maeed Rashed.
In a Group A match, Emirates threw away a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at the hands of Al Jazira in Ras Al Khaimah.
Alhusain Saleh and Khaled Khamis put the hosts in front but the visitors from Abu Dhabi turned the game around through Ahmed Rabia, Khalfan Mubarak, Jefferson Farfan and Ahmed Al Hashmi to move up to 3rd place in Group A with 8 points.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com