Dubai: Shabab Al Ahli Dubai’s title aspirations took a slight tumble as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Dibba while Al Wahda maintained pressure on the top teams with a 4-1 away win against Emirates in early eighth round action of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Saturday.

Still in the running to catch up with the leading pack of four — Al Wasl, Al Ain, Al Wahda and Al Nasr — the fifth-placed Shabab Al Ahli Dubai caved in early to a 17th minute goal from Ahmad Ebrahim. The home team then survived anxious moments to finally find an equaliser in the 67th minute and drop vital points. This was the fourth successive draw for the former seven-time league champions.

The result saw the newly formed club continue in fifth and the outcome between Al Ain and Al Jazira later in the night having no bearing on the standings.

After sustaining early pressure, the visitors were fortunate to forge ahead in the 17th minute due to an error in judgement from goalkeeper Majid Nasser. The home team goalkeeper’s clearance landed at the feet of Yaseen Mahmoud, who advanced and passed on to an unmarked Ahmad Ebrahim at the far end for the easiest of tap-ins. The visitors then fell back to defending in numbers, snuffing out all goal-ward bound moves and frustrating coach Cosmin Olaroiu and fans.

They finally found the equaliser seven minutes after the hour when substitute Saeed Ahmad Abdullah ran down the left and relayed into the box for Diop to thump home his seventh goal of the season.

Meanwhile, Al Wahda shrugged off the disappointment of their last round loss to Al Ain while returning with full points from Ras Al Khaimah with a 4-1 thrashing of Emirates.

The Emirates’ goal fell for the first time in the 28th minute after Ahmad Mohammad Malallah accidentally guided the ball into his own net. Five minutes later, Sebastian Tagliabue gave Al Wahda a further cushion as he strode in and slammed into the roof of the net for a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Sebastian Leto pulled on back for Emirates within five minutes of the restart, only to see Al Wahda add another two goals through Balazs Dzsudzsak (64th minute) and Moroccan winger Mourad Batna (70th) and take their tally to 16 points.

The ninth round of action in the AGL will be held on November 23-24.