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A six-week break for UFL competition and postponement of round 9
The UFL Board of Directors has decided to give a six-week break for the Etisalat Pro-League clubs due to the participation of the UAE Olympic football team in the Asian Games which is set to kick off on November 7 as well as the UAE senior National team who will take part in the GCC tournament starting from November 20th in Yemen. The UFL Board of Directors has decided to stop the Etisalat Pro-League championship, the Etisalat challenge league competition and postpone 'round 9' during this period in order to offer equal chances to its clubs as some of them will miss the efforts of a number of their key players. A new date for 'round 9' will be announced later. The UFL Board of Directors has addressed the clubs of the new amendments which include playing the second round of the Etisalat Cup that scheduled on November, 4th, and 5th.
By the end of round 8, Al Jazira became the sole leader of the UFL competition with 20 points after giving more woes to Kalba beating them 4-3, a result which pushed the losers to the bottom of the standings for the first time with a single point. Kalba found themselves in a critical situation as a result of the 5-3 win maintained by Dubai, who has been occupying this position for seven successive weeks, over home team Al Dhafra. The match between the head and the bottom of the table teams also saw Al Jazira's Brazilian player Bare scoring his first goal in eight rounds as he did not score in 650 minutes. Also it was the first win for Al Jazira against Kalba at the losers' pitch in 20 years. During this period, Kalba beat Al Jazira four times and forced them to five draws.
Dubai gained their lone victory so far under the guidance of their new Brazilian coach Junior Di Santos who replaced their former Egyptian coach Ayman Al Ramady who was sacked for bad results. Al Ramady helped the team to qualify to the UFL last season. Both Dubai and Kalba are currently staying in the relegation zone. Al Dhafra will play difficult games when the league stats again as they will face Al Jazira and Al Wasl before they tackle it out against their competitors Kalba in the last round of the league first division.
Bani Yas remains close to the leaders with a difference of two points following their hard-fought 1-0 win over visitors Al Nasr. The hosts maintained their sixth victory in the UFL to become the dangerous competitors to Al Jazira. Their Senegalian striker Andre Sengahoor netted his 10th goal that classified him on top of the scorers followed by Ibrahima Diaky of Al Jazira as runner-up with eight goals. The two squads Bani Yas and Al Nasr showed male performance and both played below the par. The losers were severely affected by the early substitute of their Ecuadorian player Carlos Tennerio due to injury. It was announced that Tennerio's injury was not serious and he will come to take part with his side very soon.
Both Al Wasl and Al Ain were not pleased with the outcome of their previous game which ended in a 2-2 draw. They lost two valuable points each that pushed them one step downward as the home team Al Wasl slipped to the third spot with 16 points while Al Ain moved to 8th position after collecting 10 points.
Al Wahda, the defending champions, kept their hopes alive in the title chase and registered their first win in the last five rounds. They also conceded their first goal when Mohammed Naser of Al Shabab found the back of the net in the game they played in the 8th week after a goalless record in 545 minutes. The Abu Dhabi-based team Al Wahda remains in their last fourth spot with 15 points.
In spite of the unconvincing display demonstrated by Al Ahli, but the team was able to add more three points that put them in the fifth place with 14 points whereas Sharjah the losers continued their passive results for the third successive week to slip to the 7th positions with 11 points.