Having beaten Al Jazira to go six clear last week, Al Ain fell behind to Makhete Diop's 10th-minute goal, with Jires Kembo-Ekoko salvaging a point just before the hour.
Al Jazira had put the pressure on with a 2-0 win over Al Ahli on Thursday in which they had Basheer Saeed sent off late on, while Al Shabab are within six points of the leaders after overcoming Bani Yas 1-0.
At the other end of the table At Ittihad Kalba claimed only their second win of the season as Danilo Bueno's 82nd-minute strike gave the bottom club a 1-0 success at fellow strugglers Ajman.
Elsewhere, Al Wasl cruised to a 3-0 triumph against Al Wahda, Al Nasr won 1-0 at Al Fujairah and Al Sharjah drew 1-1 with Emirates.
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