Dubai: Montenegrin Mirko Vucinic and Jonathan Pitroipa of Burkina Faso scored a brace each to help Al Jazira defeat Al Nasr 4-2 and keep pace with leaders Al Ain at the end of 20th round in the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) late on Sunday.
Needing full points after Al Ain had whipped Emirates Club 5-1 earlier in evening, Al Jazira did not disappoint as they worked their way up after being down by a goal in the first half.
The result sees Al Jazira back into second with 42 points, but still four less than leaders Al Ain. Al Shabab slip into third with 40, while Al Wahda added three valuable points to maintain their fourth position with 36 points.
There was no question of the Al Jazira intent from the start as they were all over the Al Nasr area very early in the match. In fact so fierce was the start that they forced as many as five corners in the opening 15 minutes itself, without any result. It was Ali Makhbout who had the first clear look on goal in the 18th minute when he whipped an Abdullah Mousa cross only to see Ahmad Shambieh gather safely for Al Nasr.
The home team held their nerve and nearly got a goal in the 21st minute when Pablo Hernandez worked his way inside the area from the right and sent in a stiff grounder that Ali Khasief managed to put away with his foot. On the half hour mark, Ahmad Ebrahim sent in a delightful cross from the right that landed at an unmarked Hernandez, but the Spaniard ballooned over.
Tariq Ahmad finally broke the deadlock just before the half-time whistle as he accepted a ball from Brett Holman and with one body feint took the entire Al Jazira defence off balance to slot home and give Al Nasr the lead.
The visitors regrouped well in the second half with the trio of Vicinic, Pitriopa and Lanzini keeping things simple with quick exchanges. The strategy fetched immediate results as Vucinic got the equalizer in the 48th minute when he lobbed over an out of position Shambieh.
In the 55th minute, Vucinic got his second of the night when he cleverly controlled a rebound from an Al Nasr defender and slotted home. After this Pitriopa joined the party when he played a clever one-two with Lanzini and toed home to make it 3-1 in the 63rd minute.
Al Nasr scored a second one in the 76th minute when Toure connected a cross from Hernandez to place past Khasief. But Pitriopa once again put the issue beyond doubt in the 80th minute to land full points for Eric Gerets’s side.
Al Wahda, too, secured full points with a 3-0 win against Ajman in the second late match. Sebastian Tagliabue scored once in each half and Amer Omar added a third for Sami Al Jaber’s team.
RESULTS
Al Wahda x Ajman 3-0
Al Nasr x Al Jazira 2-4
-Ends
