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Al Ahli and Al Nasr remain in their previous positions

 

Al Ahli and Al Nasr preserved their previous positions in the Etisalat Pro-League Competition standings following their 1-1 draw in Round 18 game played at Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Sunday night. Each of them have collected 23 points so far, the same balance of Sharjah with Al Nasr staying in 6th  position, followed by Al Ahli and Sharjah in 7th and 8th spots respectively. The hosts failed to revenge for their away 0-4 loss in Round 7 by their city rivals Al Nasr.

The two teams demonstrated a medium technical standard performance with the visitors being the better side in the major parts of the encounter especially before the break. Both of them exerted some good efforts and created a number of attacks to score an early goal, but all their shots missed the target. The home team's striker Ahmad Khalil had two opportunities in the opening minutes, but he failed to hit the back of the net. Al Nasr Brazilian player Lemma replied with a dangerous shot but his volley went wide. The visitors depended mainly on long balls giving their hosts hard time and in spite of their unsuccessful raids launched in the first quarter of an hour, their work was soon paid dividends when Humaid Abbas sent a rocket-like volley from a distance of 25 yards and the goalkeeper Yousuf Al Zaabi could not stop it. This goal brought the game to life and forced both sides to increase their efforts and upgrade their performance but they could not add more points. The hosts recovered afterwards trying to bring the game back to the first square but they were faced with a solid defense that spoiled all their attempts to end the first half with a 1-0 lead.

The home team tried to level the score and come back to the match. Their caretaker coach Abdul Hameed Al Mistiki made some changes in his team's lineup bringing on Esmail Al Hamadi to replace hapless Faisal Khalil who failed to show his normal standard and then Ahmad Khamis to substitute younger player Khalifa Ibrahim aiming at activating the front line.  Al Nasr's Italian coach Zinga also made one substitute when he pulled out Abdullah Ahmad and fielded on Younis Ahmad. Al Nasr tightened their grip on the match creating a bagful of chances, but they lost all of them. Al Ahli pressed hard and the referee Amaar Al Jinaibi awarded them a penalty when Ahmad Khalil was brought down inside the box by a defender and Brazilian Pinga converted the ball into the net making it 1-1 in the 77th minute. The two teams went on their attempts afterwards, but they were unlucky to see all their shots missing the target.