It’s all change at the top in the Arabian Gulf League after leaders Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club decided to dispense with Rodolfo Arruabarrena and hand temporary control to their Under-21 boss Gerard Zaragoza.

Friday’s 2-2 draw against Al Nasr, from 2-0 ahead, made it just one victory from the club’s last seven matches in all competitions and further increased the intolerable pressure building at Rashid Stadium. The ex-Argentina left-back, however, won the Arabian Gulf Cup and President’s Cup double during 2018/19’s stellar debut campaign, plus bequeaths a three-point lead in the top flight.

“Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club has decided to end its relationship with the Argentine coach of the first team, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, and assign Spain’s Gerard Zaragoza, the coach of the Under-21 team, to lead the team until the end of the season,” a tweet read late on Saturday night.

Caretaker Zaragoza, 38, has led the youth team to a six-point advantage in the U-21 competition. His last post was as assistant to Carles Cuadrat when Bengaluru FC won the 2018/19 Indian Super League crown, while he’s also guided Georgia’s Torpedo Kutaisi and Locomotive Tbilisi.

Shabab Al Ahli next travel to Ajman in the AGL on Friday.

The Dubai outfit’s miserable 2020 has included defeat to Nasr in January’s AG Cup final, losses in both 2020 AFC Champions League group fixtures and surprise elimination to Bani Yas in the President’s Cup quarter-finals.

Arruabarrena was, previously, denied a contract extension at Al Wasl in summer 2018, despite two-successive top-three finishes.