Top teams hold on to their positions
Of the strugglers, Emirates continue their climb up the table after some superb performances while Sharjah drop
Abu Dhabi: No changes occurred at the top of the standings of the Etisalat Pro League after the matches of week 13, with the top three teams — Al Ain, Al Nasr and Al Jazira — all winning.
Emirates, the former bottom team, continued their climb up the standings and left, for the first time this season, the relegation zone after they beat Al Ahli for the first time in 20 years. Sharjah replace them in the bottom two following their humiliating 5-0 defeat against reigning champions Al Jazira.
Al Ain reached 30 points after winning the ‘Classico' against Al Wahda, while Al Nasr are three points behind following their 2-1 away victory over Ajman. That match saw Italian luca Toni present his credentials as being the world-class player he was a few years ago, the Italian World Cup-winner scoring the winning goal on his debut.
Al Ain, Al Nasr, Al Jazira and Emirates were the biggest winners of the week, while Sharjah and Al Ahli are the biggest losers in addition to Bani Yas, last season's runners up.
Al Shabab had to settle for a tie at home to lowly Dubai to continue their drift down the standings after previously being one of the most serious contenders for the title.
Rare victory
Brazilian Ricardo Oliveira of Al Jazira is the man of the week with his four goals against Sharjah putting him on top of the scorers' chart with 13 goals, overtaking Al Ain's Asamoah Gyan, who is away with Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations. Gyan is expected back in the next few days as Ghana play their final game, the third-place play-off against Mali, tonight.
Al Wasl scored a rare win as they beat Bani Yas with a single goal to make Diego Maradona, their head coach, happy after his outburst against the management of his club this week, saying that his budget was not enough to buy the quality of players he needed to win titles. Week 14's matches will be played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to allow the national team to prepare for their World Cup qualifying match against Lebanon on February 29.
Results
- Emirates 2 Al Ahli1
- Al Shabab 1 Duabi1
- Al Ain 1 Al Wahda0
- Al Jazira 5 Sharjah0
- Ajman 1 Al Nasr2
- Al Wasl 1 Bani Yas0
Standings
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Al Ain 13 9 3 1 27 11 30
Al Nasr 13 8 3 2 27 17 27
Al Jazira 13 8 2 3 37 21 26
Al Shabab 13 5 6 2 20 13 21
Al Wasl 13 6 3 4 19 16 21
Al Wahda 13 4 6 3 17 17 18
Al Ahli 13 5 2 6 17 23 17
Ajman 13 4 3 6 17 20 15
Bani Yas 13 3 4 6 19 22 13
Emirates 13 3 1 9 16 33 10
Sharjah 13 2 3 8 16 29 9
Dubai 13 1 4 8 16 26 7
