Bani Yas had done the first part well. Youssoufou Niakate scored twice inside the opening 42 minutes and the hosts controlled most of the first half. Soufiane Rahimi pulled one back two minutes after the restart, an equaliser arrived in the 81st, and the game then tipped fully in stoppage time. A third Al Ain goal came in the 97th minute and Kaku added a fourth in the 100th. Al Ain went through last season's title run unbeaten across 26 league matches. On this evidence, the habit of refusing to lose has survived the summer.

The weekend's biggest scoreline belonged to Shabab Al Ahli. The Dubai side conceded first at Khorfakkan on Saturday and answered with five, winning 5-1 at Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qassimi Stadium. The club kept its squad largely intact over the summer, adding only goalkeeper Khalid Al Senani and defender Jorge Fernandez, and the continuity showed. The league's own season preview named Shabab Al Ahli and Sharjah as the sides most likely to push Al Ain, and both cleared their first hurdle without fuss.

Sharjah's evidence came at Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium, where they beat Al Dhafra 3-1. Luan Martins opened the scoring in the 39th minute from an Igor Coronado pass, Dominic Mendy levelled for the hosts just before the hour, and Guilherme Silva restored the lead in the 66th. A breakaway third in the eighth minute of stoppage time settled it. Al Dhafra will feel the night could have gone differently. Kodjo Laba, last season's league top scorer with 25 goals, had a first-half finish ruled out for offside, and VAR cancelled a second Al Dhafra goal in the 89th minute for a foul earlier in the move.

The same Saturday evening produced a historic fixture at Zabeel. United, the first privately owned club to reach the UAE top flight, made their Pro League debut against Al Wasl and held it level at 1-1 at the break, Adel Wajdan cancelling out Renato Junior's third-minute opener. Then the occasion caught up with them. Al Wasl scored four times after the interval to win 5-1. United made 12 signings this summer to prepare for the step up. The gap between divisions tends to reveal itself in second halves, and it did here.

Friday's opening night belonged to the comebacks. Al Nasr fell 2-0 behind Kalba inside 20 minutes at Al Maktoum Stadium, Nemanja Jovic finishing at the far post in the 7th and Saman Ghoddos converting a penalty in the 20th, and recovered for a 2-2 draw through Abdullah Toure's 64th-minute header and a Chris Bedia penalty in the 77th. Milos Milojevic had asked for a winning start in front of the home crowd. A point from 2-0 down was the acceptable alternative.

Ajman got the result of the night at Al Nahyan Stadium, beating Al Wahda 3-2 for their first opening-round win over that opponent in the league's history. Lorenzi scored in the 5th minute and Victor Henrique added two more, his second arriving in the 83rd after Mohammed Gharbani had given Al Wahda hope. Pericles Chamusca's side finished last season two places above Ajman. Round one suggested the gap is negotiable.

The quietest result came on Sunday in Hatta, where Al Jazira won 2-0 on the other promoted side's return to the top flight. Simon Banza scored in first-half stoppage time and a second goal arrived deep in added time at the end. Hatta stayed in the match for 93 minutes, which counts for something after a season away, and for nothing on the scoresheet.