Al Ain, the Asian champion, launched its first matches under the leadership of its new Portuguese coach, Leonardo Jardim, by returning to the language of victories at the expense of its host Al Orouba 4-2 on Thursday in the opening of the eighth stage of the UAE Football League.
Moroccan Sufyan Rahimi (12), Togolese Laba Kodjo (28 and 61), and Mohamed Awadallah (61) scored the goals for Al Ain, and Iranian Mohamed Reza Azadi (72) and Cameroonian Gabriel Kak (79) scored the goals of Al Orouba.
Al Ain, which has two postponed matches with Shabab Al Ahly and Kalba, rose to sixth place temporarily with 11 points, and Al Orouba remained in thirteenth place, penultimate, with three points.
Al Ain regained the taste of victory that it missed in the last two matches against Al Wahda (1-2) and Dibba Al Hisn (1-1), which hastened the departure of its Argentine coach, Hernan Crespo, who led it to the AFC Champions League title, and the appointment of Jardim in his place.
The Portuguese coach knows the UAE league well, having led Shabab Al-Ahly in the 2022-2023 season to the eighth title in its history.
Awadallah said: “We needed this win to get back on the right track in the competition, and coach (Jardim) worked well with us in the past days, despite the short period between assuming his duties and the match.”
Khorfakkan also won, under the leadership of its new national coach, Abdul Majeed Al-Nimr, replacing Romanian Daniel Isaella, against its host, Al-Oruba, with three goals scored by the Brazilian trio Pedro Henrique (14), Laurence Rodriguez (60), and Matthews Andrade (79) versus a goal by Ahmed Khalil (90 + 2).
Khor Fakkan advanced to eighth place with 10 points, and Al-Bataeh remained in twelfth place with four points.
On Friday, Shabab Al-Ahly will play with Kalba, Al-Sharjah will play with Al-Nasr, Al-Wahda will play with Al-Wasl, on Saturday Dibba Al-Hisn will play with Baniyas, and Al-Jazira will play against Ajman.
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