Abu Dhabi, UAE – Al Ain and Al Nasr played to a 1-1 draw in their top-of-the-table clash on Saturday evening at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, in the 16th round of the UAE Pro League.
Al-Nassr started the match strongly, threatening Al-Ain’s goal early on with a free kick taken by Luka Milivojevic in the 6th minute, but it went over the crossbar. Al-Ain responded in the 15th minute with a dangerous header from Soufiane Rahimi that went just wide of the post.
In the 21st minute, Mehdi Qaedi opened the scoring for Al-Nassr after capitalizing on a pass inside the box and cleverly chipping the ball over goalkeeper Khalid Eisa. The goal was confirmed after a VAR review.
Al Ain almost equalized before the end of the first half, when Palacios missed a clear opportunity in the 39th minute after a perfect pass from Kaku, but goalkeeper Shambih made a brilliant save.
Al Ain’s task became more difficult in the 60th minute after Kaku was sent off for a foul on Milivojevic, leaving the “Boss” to finish the match with ten men. Despite being a man down, Palacios managed to equalize in the 66th minute with a powerful free kick that found the back of the net.
نهاية المباراة بتعادل العين مع ضيفه النصر بنتيجة 1-1 في ختام مواجهات الجولة الـ16 من دورينا 🔚
شاهد الهدفين ⚽🎥#العين_النصر#دوري_أدنوك_للمحترفين pic.twitter.com/3a0POQC1D0
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) February 14, 2026The final minutes were full of drama; Laba Kodjo scored a second goal for Al Ain, but it was disallowed for offside. The referee also awarded Al Nassr a penalty in the 87th minute before overturning his decision after a VAR review.
In stoppage time (90+2), Rami Rabia received a red card, leaving Al Ain to finish the match with nine players.
With this result, Al Ain increased their points tally to 38, maintaining their lead at the top of the table on head-to-head record against Shabab Al Ahli. Meanwhile, Al Nasr reached 21 points, securing sixth place, after a closely contested and exciting match that went down to the wire.
