Dubai: Al Ahli and Al Ain walked off with honours even in their derby match, while Al Shabab returned with full points away against Emirates Club in late night action in the eighth round of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Monday.
Without three of their main stars – Asamoah Gyan, Omar Abdul Rahman and Jires Kembo-Ekoko - Al Ain played a typical wait and watch game while relying on the quick counter to return with a vital away point against the defending league champions.
It was Ebrahim Diakhy who had the first look at the home goal with a first-time volley that was parried over for a corner. And it was this first corner of the match that produced the opening goal as defender Mohannad Salem collected a hasty clearance inside the area and slammed home.
After the first goal the home team took total control, but with very little penetration upfront. Two minutes after the goal, Esmail Al Hammadi came close to an equalizer but his lob over Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa strayed wide.
After a long spell of midfield play, the home side managed to construct a goal worthy move as late as the 33rd minute as Abdul Aziz Haikal’s first-timer was tipped over by Khalid Eisa.
Two minutes later, the Red Knights got the equalizer through Carlos Munoz as the Chilean latched on to a through ball from Al Hammadi to head over an advancing Eisa on the Al Ain goal.
The second half proved to be farcical as players from both sides resorted to various time-wasting ways seemingly content at having a 1-1 result. But the moment of madness came in the second minute of injury period when referee Yaqoub Qasim flashed a red to Al Ahli’s Munoz despite being brought down inside the area as he went on to score.
With the entire home team bench up in arms, the referee then sent coach Cosmin Olaroui too into the stands to bring the match to an abrupt anti-climax.
In Ras Al Khaimah, Henrique Luvannor scored the opener in the 18th minute to give Al Shabab the lead, while Saleh Eisa Al Hussain secured the equalizer in the 39th minute as the teams trooped out 1-1 at the half-time whistle.
Luis Henrique scored against his old club in the 54th minute to give Emirates the lead, but two quick goals by Carlos Villanueva and Azizbek Hydarov within two minutes sealed a well-deserved three points for the Dubai team.
In the day’s early match, Al Wahda rode on Amer Omar’s fifth goal of the season for a narrow 1-0 win over Fujairah. Omar struck on the sixth minute and then Al Wahda parried away attack after attack from the home side to maintain their unbeaten record in eight rounds of the league.
Monday's results consolidated Al Wahda's position at the top with 18 points, while Al Shabab kept pace in second with 15 followed by Al Jazira, Al Ain and Al Ahli.
The AGL will now take a long one-month break to enable to national squad to participate in the Gulf Cup taking place in Saudi Arabia from next week.
