Dubai: Former Atletico Madrid striker Pedro Conde scored two in Bani Yas’ 3-0 home win over Dibba in round two of the Arabian Gulf Cup on Sunday. Elsewhere, Ajman beat Kalba 4-1 away in the other early kick-off.
Leroy George opened the Sky Blue’s account after six minutes before Conde got two either side of the interval on 41 and 47 minutes, respectively.
George ran onto a long ball forward by Abdul Aziz Al Hamhani, cutting back from his marker Darwish Mohammad to then curl into the bottom corner for the first.
Dibba should have equalised before the half hour but Obaid Rashid’s side pass, nut-megging a defender, to find Guilherme Schettine free and in the middle, was struck wide by the latter.
Bani Yas extended their lead before half-time when Dibba keeper Mohammad Salem fumbled Mohammad Al Menhali’s cross onto Conde’s chest, allowing the Spaniard to just run his follow up into an empty net.
Conde got another at the start of the second half, blasting in from George’s assist via a deflection off the defender.
In the other early game, Ahmad Al Naqbi cancelled out Mohammad Hilal’s 31 minute opener eight minutes later to make it 1-1 at half time. Hassan Abdul Rahman and Hassan Zahran then extended for Ajman on 53 and 58 minutes before Hilal’s second just after the hour.
This follows up a draw for both Bani Yas and Ajman in their 1-1 Group A opening stalemate against each other in Ajman last week, while Kalba had opened with a goalless draw away to Al Wasl.
The Arabian Gulf Cup sees all 14 Arabian Gulf League sides split into two groups of seven with two from each group progressing to the semis after a six round group phase. Other teams in Group A include Al Wahda who were at home to Al Wasl late on Sunday and Shabab Al Ahli, who don’t have a game this week.
