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Al Jazira finish the first Round of Etisalat Pro-League as sole leaders

Al Jazira continued their successful march to finish the first Round of the Etisalat Pro-League on top of the standings with 29 points following their 4-1 victory over visitors Dubai which was played tonight Thursday December 23 at the losers' pitch. The winners are five points ahead of their lone contenders, Bani Yas who lost to Al Ahli by a solitary goal earlier in the day. Dubai have slipped down to stay second from the bottom with eight points after Al Dhafra beat Al Wahda to add more three points to their tally that put them in 9thh position with 11points, the same balance of Al Ain, but Al Dhafra have scored more goals than Al Ain.

Ismail Ahmad was the first to find the back of the net when he drove the ball home into the net only 8 minutes into the game giving the losers, Dubai, an early lead. But the visitors recovered quickly to control the match for Yasir Mattar to pull one back to level the score and his teammate Khalid Sabeel made it 2-1 five minutes later to end the first session with a 2-1 lead for the winning team. Dubai made good efforts after the break trying to get back to the game, but Al Jazira did not give them a chance to threaten their goal. Moreover the visitors added to the owes of their competitors when Brazilian player Delgado netted the third goal and his countryman Bare scored the fourth to seal the result for his side.

Al Shabab came back to Dubai with a valuable point after forcing their hosts Al Ain to a 1-1 draw in their match played at Tahnoon Bin Mohammed Stadium in Qattara. Dawood Ali scored for the visitors in the 32nd minute and Argentinean player Sand netted the equalizer in the 63rd minute. Ali Abbas was given marching order in the 62nd minutes for Al Shabab to finish the game with one man less.

Al Dhafra made a big surprise after beating the hosts, Al Wahda, with a 4-2 victory. Ahmad Nasir put the winners on the lead in the 33rd minute and Boris Kabi scored a hat trick in the 36th, 81st and 88th minutes, while Ismail Mattar and Fernando Bayano netted Al Wahda's two goals in the 38th and 61st minutes respectively.

In the other matches of the day Al Ahli hindered Bani Yas's successful march beating them with a lone goal which was scored by Andre Losyano in the 60th minute. Sharjah and Al Wasl ended their match with a 1-1 result. Humaid Ahmad took the lead for Sharjah only 16 minutes into the match and Tariq Hassan scored the equalizer six minutes later.

Al Nasr got the better of Kalba beating them 2-0 and their striker Ismail Bangoura scored both goals after the break in the 70th minute and four minutes to the end of the game.