Al Ain ended their title-winning ADNOC Pro League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Sharjah at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
The visitors opened the scoring seven minutes from time when Brazilian right back Marcus Meloni sent a diagonal ball into the box for his compatriot Caio Lucas who lost his marker, controlled it expertly and poked it past goalkeeper Mohammed Bu Sandah.
The goal against his former side makes Lucas the top scorer in head-to-head matches between the two sides, having scored once for Al Ain against Sharjah and this being his fifth for Sharjah against Al Ain.
Meloni went from hero to zero just after the hour mark as he brought down Soufiane Rahimi outside the penalty box, receiving a second yellow card and leaving his side to finish the match with ten men.
Al Ain capitalized on their numerical advantage almost immediately as left-back Erik Jorgens showed his range of skills, first nutmegging Otabek Shukurov with a dazzling flip flap, before feeding Sultan Al Shamsi with a tasty backheel pass and getting on the end of the return pass to sweep home the equaliser.
The draw means Al Ain retain their ten-point gap ahead of Sharjah with the end of the campaign, to finish the season with 65 points and just one defeat to their name, while second-placed Sharjah finish three points clear off Al Wahda.
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