Al Ain settled a five-goal thriller at Saqr bin Mohammad al Qassimi Stadium after sealing a 3-2 away win over Al Bataeh in matchweek 13 of the ADNOC Pro League on Sunday.
It took 27th minutes for the visitors to break the deadlock when Soufian Rahimi sent an excellent cross to Laba Kodjo inside the box, as the latter used his first touch to smack a left-footed shot toward the near post of the goal, beating goalkeeper Zayed Ahmed.
In the 35th minute, Khalid Al Blooshi put Andrii Yarmolenko through on goal as the latter curled a left-footed shot into the back of the net, to make it 2-0.
Just two minutes before the break, Al Ain's defender Erik Jorgens was sent off after he had brought down Al Bataeh's midfielder Mohamed Ahmed, leaving his side a man short in the second half.
Al Ain's defender Kouame Autonne's own goal narrowed the gap for the hosts when he converted a cross into his own net in the 60th minute.
In the 81st minute, Lourency Do restored parity for Al Bataeh when he met Anatole Bertrand's cross with a first-time left-footed strike toward the far post of the goal, beating goalkeeper Khalid Eisa.
However, Laba Kodjo had the final say and secured the three points for Al Ain when he towered above Al Bataeh's defense to thump Saeed Ahmed Abdulla's cross from a corner into the bottom corner.
The victory means Al Ain move up to the seventh spot with 22 points, while Al Bataeh remain eleventh with 13 points.
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