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Al Dhafra force Al Ahli to a 1-1 draw; Al Shabab add to the woes of Al Shaab

Makhete Diop’s powerful late header ensured Al Dhafra left Dubai following a 1-1 draw with Al Ahli in the Etisalat Pro League round 13 held tonight at the Rashid Stadium. The draw meant Al Ahli moved two points clear of third - placed Al Jazira, who will face Abu Dhabi rivals Al Wahda later this evening, while Al Dhafra moved up one place to provisional ninth.

Diop headed home off a corner in the 90th minute after Grafite had given hosts Al Ahli the lead in the 45th minute from the spot.


Al Ahli started well and were dominating possession, but it wasn't until midfielder Tariq Ahmed picked the first yellow of the game for a two-footed lunge at Saif Mohammed in the 11th minute that the game sparked into life.

The home side had the first chance in the 15th, but Ismaeel Al Hamadi sent his right foot volley wide of the left post after Achille Emana dribbled his way into the box and cut it back for him to finish.

Four minutes later, Abdulaziz Sanqour saw his deft shot from 25 yards out blocked at the left post by Al Dhafra goalkeeper Khalid Al Sinani. Former Al Jazira glove man Al Sinani once again came to Al Dhafra's rescue in the 23rd, falling to his left to stop Luis Jimenez's shot across goal from sneaking inside the right post.

After a dour 20 minutes had elapsed, during which Al Ahli kept searching for the opening goal and Al Dhafra defended desperately, it appeared as if the teams would retreat with the scores unchanged, but that wasn't the case as former Al Ahli defender Mohammad Qassim's high-boot caught Emana in the head as he attempted a header at goal. The resulting penalty was converted by Grafite who placed inside the bottom left-hand corner. Al Ahli picked up from where they had left at the break with Grafite being denied in the fourth minute after resumption by Al Sinani who showed a good pair of hands to block a stinging close range effort from the Brazilian.

The closest Al Dhafra came to scoring in the first hour was in the 58th but even then Ali Al Hammadi's poke following a goalmouth melee rolled wide of Al Ahli's framework.

Quique Sanchez Flores' men could have doubled their lead on 60 minutes but Tariq Ahmad's drive from 30 yards flew a whisker away from the right post.

A minute later at the other end, a goalkeeping error from Al Ahli's Ali Masari presented Amara Diane with only defender Saad Surour to beat on the goal line. Diane set up Makhete Diop after being thwarted at the first attempt, but the Senegalese shot high of the crossbar.

Al Dhafra coach Laurent Banide replaced Mahmoud Awadh with Abdullah Al Jaberi and Ali Al Hammadi with Bandar Mohammed, but the script remained unchanged.

Al Ahli came close again in the 82nd but once more Al Sinani stood between glory, blocking Grafite's close range effort to the top right hand corner.

Al Dhafra made their final change in the 88th replacing Abdulraheem Jumaa with Hassan Zahran, while Al Ahli used the time to bring on Ali Hassan in place of Emana.

The hosts were made to suffer for their misses late in the match when Diop climbed high to head home in the 90th minute off a corner.

 

Meanwhile, Al Shabab climbed up one place to take provisional sixth after hammering struggling Al Shaab 3-0.


Luis Henrique's spectacular left foot volley from close range put Al Shabab ahead in the 26th minute, while Edgar Bruno Da Silva made it 2-0 with a deft chip over Al Shaab goalkeeper Omar Yousuf in the 51st. Henrique collected his second of the night tapping into an open net in the 73rd after Essa Obaid had been blocked by the Al Shaab goalkeeper.