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Arabian Gulf League: Round Two Review

There was no shortage of drama in Round Two of the Arabian Gulf League, which took place over the weekend of Friday 20th and Saturday 21st September. The round’s seven games saw 22 goals scored by 13 different international players and seven local stars, with the race for the 2013/14 season’s golden boot well and truly under way.

The first game of the round saw Al Ain pick up their first three points of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Ajman at the Tahnon bin Mohamed Stadium. An Asamoah Gyan double was enough to ensure that Simon Feindouno’s second-half goal was only a consolation for Ajman, who sit second from bottom of the Arabian Gulf League table with no points from their first two games. Al Ain now have three points on the board and are 11th in the standings.

There were five goals in the match between Emirates and Dubai, played at Al Shaab’s Khaled bin Mohamed Stadium on Friday evening, with the visitors eventually coming out on top of a 3-2 scoreline. Bruno Cesar scored his first goal for Dubai since moving from Al Nasr, and Malian striker Dramane Traore was also on target for his new club, with Khalid Hussain eventually netting the winner for Dubai in the fourth minute of injury time. Jair and Hadif Saif Ahmed were on target for Emirates but conceding at the final whistle meant Eid Baroot’s side stay on three points in 4th place, whilst Dubai now have three points in 8th.

Bani Yas were held to a 0-0 home draw by Al Dhafra on Friday night, with Carlos Munoz and Nawaf Mubarak having the best chances for the home side. The result keeps Bani Yas amongst only three unbeaten teams after two games in the League, sitting 3rd in the table with four points, whilst Al Dhafra are 12th with their first point of the campaign. Friday night’s second 8:30pm kick-off saw Al Ahli leave it late again to beat Al Wahda 2-1 at Al Wasl’s Zabeel Stadium, coming from a goal down after Al Wahda’s Argentinian summer signing Sebastian Tagliabue netted for the visitors in the opening 10 minutes. Not one to be beaten, Al Ahli captain Grafite scored a double to match fellow golden boot contender Asamoah Gyan’s feat in the day’s earlier game. Thanks to the injury-time winner, Al Ahli have now taken six points from their opening two games and sit 2nd in the table, whilst Al Wahda are 7th with three points.

Saturday’s three games began with a 2-1 victory for Al Shabab at Sharjah, putting Marcos Paqueta’s side top of the table with maximum points from their first two fixtures. Abdulla Faraj and Adeilson got the goals for the visitors, with the latter scoring his third in two games to top the League scoring chart, whilst Fellype Gabriel was on the mark with Sharjah’s consolation. The first of the two 8:30pmkick-offs saw Al Nasr seal their first victory of the season with a 2-1 win over Al Shaab at the Al Maktoum Stadium, courtesy of goals from Ibrahima Toure and captain Habib Al Fardan. Al Shaab had equalised through Michael Laurent N’dri but Al Fardan popped up with a trademark header to score the winner for Al Nasr. Ivan Jovanovic’s side now have three points in 6th place, whilst Al Shaab are rock bottom with no points from their first two games.

There were plenty of talking points in the round’s final game at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, which saw a 9-man Al Jazira team succumb to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Al Wasl, despite a spirited comeback attempt. Ganim Basheer opened the scoring for Al Wasl after just two minutes, and in the 8th minute Al Jazira had their first player sent off as Hyungmin Shin conceded a penalty, which was duly converted by Al Wasl’s Andre Senghor. Things got worse when Abdullah Mousa was given his marching orders for a second yellow card in the 29th minute, leaving the home side to play over an hour with two fewer players on the pitch, but the remaining 9 men fought back strongly as Ali Mabkhout and Ricardo Oliveira pulled them back level to 2-2. Fahad Hadeed delivered the sucker punch by scoring Al Wasl’s winning goal, leaving Al Jazira 5th with three points and Al Wasl 9th, also with three points.