Al Ahli thrash Al Nasr 4-2 in Dubai derby

Dubai: Defending champions Al Ahli and Al Dhafrah collected full points while newcomers Bani Yas denied Al Jazira the leadership at the end of the seventeenth week of the UAE Football League (UFL) late on Thursday.

Ahmad Khalil scored a fine hat-trick to help Al Ahli earn a hard-fought and exciting 4-2 thrashing of Al Nasr to come out tops in the ‘Dubai derby’ even as Al Dhafrah secured a stunning 2-1 win against league hopefuls Al Ain.

The real shocker, however, was Al Jazira’s injury time equalizer for a 1-1 result against newcomers Bani Yas with both goals coming from the penalty spot. Bani Yas continue in fourth place with 29 points, while Al Jazira keep up their chase for an elusive first-ever league crown with 40 points.

Al Wahda, who play Al Wasl on Saturday lead the league table with 40 points on a better goal difference from Al Jazira, while the wins made hardly any difference in the standings to Al Ahli and Al Dhafrah as they continued in seventh and eighth places with 21 and 20 points respectively.

In an exciting match that could have gone either way it was Al Nasr making early inroads into the Al Ahli territory in the 12th minute with Ecuadorian striker Carlos Tenorio being foiled by an alert Yousuf Abdullah on the Al Ahli goal.

The visitors deservedly took the lead in the 25th minute when Habib Fardan fed Tenorio inside the box and the Ecuadorian placed past Abdullah on the Al Ahli goal.

But the home side drew level within seven minutes when Ahmad Khalil powered his way through an otherwise alert Al Nasr defence to curl over Rabia’s head for the equalizer. Egyptian Hosni Abdo Rabo scored within two minutes of the second half from the penalty spot after Khalil had been brought down.

Khalil got the second of the night in the 73rd minute when he ran in for a calculated ball from veteran Saleem Khamis and nodded over an advancing Rabia to make it 3-1.

Khalil then rounded off his first-ever hat-trick for the senior team in the 78th minute, before Tenorio scored a second way into injury period after a swiftly-taken free kick.

In Friday’s action, Emirates Club from Ras Al Khaimah host Al Shabab while Sharjah travel to neighbouring Ajman who are at the bottom of the table with just five points.

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