Al Ahli's woeful streak continues with third loss

Abu Dhabi: Bani Yas added to the woes of defending champions Al Ahli by handing them a 1-0 defeat in the fourth week of the UAE Football League (UFL) on Friday at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Al Ain.

Al Ahli, the UAE's representative in the Fifa Club World Cup, to be held in December in Abu Dhabi, have lost three matches in four weeks and have only collected three points after beating Emirates club a week earlier.

It was the worst start of a season in the club's history and puts the future of Czech coach Ioan Andone in doubt after the team's poor results this season.

They have played six matches and have lost to Al Ain in the Super Cup, to Al Wahda in the UFL, Al Ain and Bani Yas — the last mentioned, a team promoted this season to the premier division. They also drew 1-1 with Al Dhafrah in the Etisalat Cup.

Injuries to key players such as Faisal Khalil and others have played a role in the bad results, but the club's fans and football experts on local sports TV channels have blamed the coach who is new to the UAE domestic competitions and needs more time to know the opponents and strike an ideal combination for the forthcoming matches.

Meanwhile, Bani Yas continued their fantastic run and increased their tally to eight points from four having won twice and drawn as many matches and took one of the leading four places on the standings.

Diara, the team's striker from Ivory Coast, scored the all important goal. Bani Yas did well in defending their slim lead till the end.

Al Ahli will face Sharjah next week at home and have to do better than what they did against Bani Yas.