Al Ain manager Serhiy Rebrov departs after defeat to Sharjah in League Cup final

Al Ain manager Serhiy Rebrov announced his departure following his team’s 2-1 defeat to Sharjah in the League Cup final at Al Nahyan Stadium on Saturday.

The Ukrainian, completing his second season in charge, led Al Ain to the Adnoc Pro League and League Cup double in his first campaign. The Garden City club finished three points behind Shabab Al Ahli as runners-up in this season's league table.

Rebrov is soon expected to be confirmed as the new manager of the Ukraine national team.

“The ADIB Cup was my last game with Al Ain. I was hoping to end my time with this great club with a title, but we weren’t lucky enough on the night,” Rebrov said.

“I would like to thank the management, players and fans, and the two wonderful seasons I spent at Al Ain. We tried our best but the absence of our key forwards due to injuries didn’t help our cause.”

Al Ain have moved on quickly to appoint former Ajax manager Alfred Schreuder as Rebrov’s replacement.

“We thank Serhiy Rebrov for his time and the good work in his two seasons at the club and wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” Al Ain said in a statement.

For Sharjah, the League Cup final triumph was their third win over Al Ain this season, after their victories in the Super Cup in February and last month’s President’s Cup final.

“The success we have had this season was a collective effort from the players and management, and obviously I’m so happy with the achievements,” said Sharjah manager Cosmin Olaroiu, who has led the club to fourth four trophies since taking charge 18 months ago.

“Our objective was to try and win every title. It’s a long and hard season in which we have to deal with injuries and fatigue that are not unusual. It’s all worked out well for us.”

Sharjah finished seventh in the league, but Olaroiu regards winning three of the four domestic trophies as an impressive achievement.

Sharjah rallied from a goal down to beat Al An on Saturday. Al Ain took the lead after half an hour when Kouame Antonne fired a powerful shot into the top corner off a long ball from Bandar Al Ahbabi.

Sharjah equalised eight minutes later as Luan Pereira timed his run perfectly to head in Marcus Vinicius' cross.

Sharjah were then awarded a penalty after Pereira was brought down inside the box by Rafael Pereira.

Caio Lucas made no mistake from the spot and put his side ahead in the first half's stoppage time after stepping up and sending the goalkeeper Khalid Eisa the wrong way.