Abu Dhabi: Al Nasr and Ajman each scored 3-1 away victories to increase the woes of Emirates and Sharjah respectively in the tenth week of the Etisalat Pro League yesterday.
Tunisian coach Lotfi El Benzarti watched in dismay as his first match in charge of Emirates ended in defeat, with visitors Al Nasr taking the points thanks to goals by Australian Mark Bresciano, Amara Diane and Habib Al Fardan. Akarandut Orok had equalised for Emirates to give the home fans hope, but they eventually fell to their ninth successive defeat and remain rooted to the bottom of the table with just three points.
Al Nasr increased their tally to 18 points to overtake Al Shabab in second place before the latter played their late night match yesterday.
In Sharjah, the city team continued their negative results and went down to their neighbours, Ajman — who were promoted this season to the top division — thanks to an outstanding performance from Lebanese striker Hassan Matouk and Ajman's captain Karim Kerkar.
Matouk put Ajman into the lead in the 12th minute with a dazzling solo effort and Kerkar added the second on 38 minutes with another brilliant solo run in which he showed great ball control before sending a curling left-footer into the far corner of the net.
Matouk came again to the rescue of his team six minutes after the breather when his shot from the right flank was deflected into the net by home defender Ali Saeed Al Sa'adi to put the issue beyond the reach of the home team.
Marcelo scored his team's consolation goal in the 72nd minute with a strong shot from outside the box.
Ajman increased their tally to 12 points while Sharjah remained with eight and deep in trouble in the relegation zone.
Results
On Wednesday's matches:
Sharjah 1 Ajman 3
Emirates 1 Al Nasr 3
Today's fixtures:
Al Wasl vs Dubai 5pm
Bani Yas vs Al Ahli 5.05pm
Al Jazira vs Al Wahda 8pm
