Sport | Football
Al Jazira split points with Dubai Club
A disastrous display by Al Jazira led Dubai to split the two points of their match yesterday in the etisalat First Division Football League as they drew 1-1, here.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 25, 2006
- Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
- Dubai Club's Ali Hassan (left) goes for a powerful shot watched by an Al Jazira defender during their First Division League match at Al Jazira Sports Club.
Abu Dhabi: A disastrous display by Al Jazira led Dubai to split the two points of their match yesterday in the etisalat First Division Football League as they drew 1-1, here.
Al Jazira, expected to be a contender for the title, played one of their worst matches and Dubai, the team promoted this season from the second division, were unfortunate not to win the three points.
Dodzi and Gergory, the two professional strikers of Dubai, created havoc in the home team's defence line up which featured, for the first time in the league, their Zambian defender Alija Tana and their new signing Rashid Abdul Rahman.
Al Jazira took control of the match as visitors were hoping to win a single point. They played a solid defensive match with fast counter attacks led by the French striker Gregory.
Al Jazira, who squandered all the chances that came their way, were taken by surprise when Gregory sent Dodzi clear between two defenders to score his team's goal, 13 minutes into the game.
The home team made a suicidal display as almost all of their passes were wrong. Their marking was absent-minded and their movement was slow, especially inside their opponent's penalty area.
Jan Versleijen, the home team's head coach, was forced to pull out Yousuf Abdul Aziz, 7 minutes before the break, because of his injury. The replacement Mohammad Al Sayed was active on the right flank but the team lacked finishing touch.
Al Jazira continued to control the match but the counter attacking moves of their guests were dangerous and the home team were lucky not to go down further, with credit to their young custodian Ali Khaseef.
He was forced many times to leave his line and go out to clear dangerous balls.
It was only 15 minutes before the end when Tana scored the equaliser following a flag kick from Saleh Obaid which the Zambian captain placed home for his first goal in his first appearance.
Both teams lost sitters in the last minutes of the match from Gregory and Obaid.
Dubai and Al Jazira increased their tally to 10 points each from 7 matches as the league will stop till December 14 to allow the UAE's national senior team to prepare for the Gulf Cup and the Olympic team to take part in the Asian Games in Doha.
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