Al Dhafra beat Al Ain 3-0 in Arabian Gulf League

al ain — Al Ain suffered a shock 3-0 loss against Al Dhafra at Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium in Round 15 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday, a press release said.

The game started with a bang, as Al Dhafra took the lead just two minutes into the match through Khalid Bawazir. The 23-year-old finished Diego Rigonato’s leftfooted cross into the back of Khalid Bilal’s net with a flying header.

The Boss went on to respond through Caio Fernandes in the 24th minute, however, the Brazilian’s long-range powerful freekick strike bounced off the crossbar after a clever touch by Khaled Al Senaani.

Al Ain kept pressing forward and nearly scored the equalising goal in the 66th minute, but Ruben Ribeiro’s right-footed half volley was saved acrobatically by Al Senaani.

Thirteen minutes before the final whistle, Romulo dos Santos nearly secured the full points for the Western Knights, but the winger’s effort went just wide off target, after a brilliant solo run from the halfway line.

Romulo dos Santos was once again at heart of attack for the hosts, as he extended the lead in the 85th minute. Rigonato released the Brazilian, whose rightfooted shot nestled into the back of Bilal’s net.

In the dying moments of the game, Rigonato registered his third assist of the night when he squared the ball to Abdulrahman Khamis, who was left with a simple tap in from a close range, making it 3-0.

This marked Al Ain’s third league defeat as they now remain second with 32 points, five points away from league leaders Sharjah. They will face Al Nasr next week. Meanwhile, Al Dhafra moved to the ninth spot with 17 points ahead of their clash against Kalba in Round 16.

On Thursday, Al Jazira thrashed Fujairah 5-0, while Sharjah beat Al Nasr 1-0.