The Shabab Al-Ahly match is the key to the league shield

Al Ain striker, Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi, confirmed that his team deals with each match separately, stressing that all confrontations are fought with a finals mentality, with no goal other than achieving victory.

Rahimi said, in press statements after the Ajman match yesterday: “Al Ain entered the confrontation with a high focus to resolve matters early, and to avoid any pressure that might result from a delay in scoring. The goal that the team scored after only six minutes gave the players a great advantage, and contributed to imposing control over the course of the match, despite the difficulty of the opponent.”

He added: “We have five days before facing Shabab Al-Ahly, which is the most important match for us this season, as it is against the direct competitor. I hope that we will show the highest levels of readiness to resolve the confrontation, which in my view is considered the key to crowning the league title.”

Al Ain had returned to the top of the overall standings of the Professional Football League table, after an easy victory over Ajman with two unanswered goals in the match that brought them together at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium for the 21st round of the competition, raising its score to 53 points, a point ahead of Shabab Al Ahly, before their expected confrontation next Friday in the 22nd round, while Ajman’s score froze at 24 points.

Sufyan Rahimi scored Al Ain’s first goal, while Laba Kodjo added the second goal.

For his part, Ajman captain, Ali Al Hosani, stressed that his team’s loss to Al Ain does not underestimate the amount of effort made by the players throughout the two halves of the match.