New Al Ain signing Danilo Asprilla enjoyed a debut to savour as he danced through the Al Dhafra defence to claim a brilliant late winner.
Asprilla, 26, produced a moment of magic in the final minute of injury time to settle a tight contest which pitted the Arabian Gulf League leaders against relegation-threatened opponents.
The winger was appearing for the first time since a €2.5 million (Dh10m) move from Bulgaria’s Litex Lovech was sealed on Monday.
Zlatko Dalic’s men were made to battle throughout for the victory at Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium which put them six points clear of second-placed Al Ahli, who travel to Fujairah on Saturday.
After striker Emmanuel Emenike and midfielder Lee Myung-joo were denied by ex-Al Ain goalkeeeper Abdulla Sultan in the first half, veteran Ibrahim Diaky fired in a long-range strike on 52 minutes to give the visitors the lead.
But the second-bottom side refused to be cowed, levelling up via a new signing of their own as Omar Khribin’s deflected shot looped over Khalid Essa.
Al Ain’s push for victory seemed to be in vain until superstar playmaker Omar Abdulrahman pinged a delicate ball into space for Asprilla to chase. He then skilfully dribbled past several defenders and Sultan in the penalty box, before showing superb composure to fire into an empty net while off balance.
Meanwhile, Al Nasr showed tremendous desire to maintain their top-flight title push as they fought back from two-goals down at Emirates Club to triumph 3-2.
The Blue Wave looked limp on their travels to Ras Al Khamiah as they found themselves 2-0 down by 25 minutes. Midfielder Mohammad Malalla first fired into the bottom corner before the unmarked UAE U-23 star Waleed Ambar smashed into the roof of the goal.
Nasr refused to buckle and excelled in the second half to inflict a seventh-successive loss on the Falcons.
Jires Kembo Ekoko fired home from range, Salem Saleh slotted in and an offside-looking Jonathan Pitroipa converted Kembo Ekoko’s low cross on 84 minutes to complete the turnaround.
