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Al Wasl stay on top, Al Dhafra jump to 2nd place in Etisalat Cup

Al Dhafra have raised their tally to nine points following their 2-0 win over Bani yas in the match played on Friday December 3 at Hamdan Bin Zayed pitch in the Western region to stay in the 2nd position behind Al Ain, the leaders of group "A" who have collected 12 points that see them on top of the standings. The winners started their march in this competition with three successive draws against Dubai 2-2, Al Nasr and Al Wahda with the same result 1-1 before losing to Al Ain 1-3 and then winning twice in home and away games in the 5th and 6th stages against Bani Yas. The losers have slipped to 4th place after their balance was frozen in the seventh point as a result of three consecutive defeats. They lost earlier to Dubai 0/2.

The home team launched several attacks in the opening minutes of the match looking for an early goal. Yasir Abdullah opened the score for the hosts when he sent a fierce shot off a stand ball that beat the Bani Yas's custodian Mohammed Ali Gholoom in the 22nd minute. Enjoying a slight edge in attack, Al Dhafra players tried to increase their lead but could not benefit of the chances they created before the break. Bani Yas also failed to score in spite of their continuous attempts especially through Andréa Sengahoor from Senegal to end the first session with a solitary goal for the home squad. The two teams continued their attacks in the second half but they did not create dangerous chances. Thamir Mohammed came close to level the game in the 92nd minute, but just when he was to take his shot inside the six yard area, Al Dhafra's defender Khairy Khalfan cleared the ball to safety. Boris Kabi netted the second goal two minutes later to secure a 2-0 victory for Al Dhafra.

In the concluding match of the day, Al Wasl maintained their second successive win over hosts Al Ahli beating them 3-2 in their encounter played on Friday at Rashid Stadium. In spite of playing without a number of their key players like goalkeeper Majid Nasr, the three professional players Olivera from Brazil, Yeste from Spain and the Omani player Al Shaiba and other stars, but they played brilliantly and controlled the match most of the time. They took the lead in the 31st minute when Amar Mubarak's perfect header rebounded off the upright for Khalid Darweesh to return it back home with a rocket-like shot to beat Al Ahli's goalie Yousuf Abdul Rahman. Al Wasl tried to add their second goal while Al Ahli worked hard to come back to the match. Binga, the Brazilian player of Al Ahli, was almost to make it 1-1 but his lovely shot was deflected to a corner by the goalkeeper Rashid Ali in the 35th minute. Al Wasl's defender Ali Mahmoud pushed Bance down inside the box and the referee pointed for a penalty. Binga came to compensate his team for his lost chance when he executed the spot kick and drove the ball into the net to make it 1-1 four minutes before the break.

Al Wasl again took the lead through their midfielder Darweesh Ahmad who sent a long-range shot into the net increasing the lead to 2-1 in the 60th minute and his colleague Omran Abdul Rahman made it 3-1 in the 71st minute. Al Ahli made good attempts and their efforts were soon rewarded when Bance reduced the deficit scoring the second goal. His teammate Abdullah Essa came close to level the game but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper Rashid Ali to end the match with a 3-2 win for Al Wasl.

Al Wasl raised their tally to 12 points on top of group "B" while Al Ahli are in the 5th place with only four points.