News Center

Al Ain remain sole leaders of group "A" in the Etisalat Cup

Al Ain came from behind to end their match against hosts Bani Yas with a 1-1 draw which was played tonight at Al Shamkha Stadium in the first day of Week 8 of the Etisalat Cup. The visitors raised their tally to 16 points to remain as sole leaders of their group and they are five points ahead of second placed Al Wahda. They are the only team in group "A" who haven't lost a single game since the start of the competition, but drew twice in their home and away encounters against Bani Yas who are currently classified at the bottom of the table with only eight points and need to exert more efforts to keep their hopes alive in the struggle for the semifinal phase. Both goals were netted after the break as the two teams failed to score in the first session. They demonstrated a poor display in the first half, but both recovered to play a balanced game with the front liners squandering a number of scoring opportunities.  Al Ain's defender Ismail Ahmad committed a severe blunder when he brought Bani Yas's player Fareed Ismail inside the box. The hosts' midfielder Fawzi Basheir made no mistake from the penalty spot giving his side the lead in the 59th minute. The visiting squad worked hard to level the score and their efforts were yielded when the home team's defender Ali Masari touched the ball inside the box for a penalty. Argentinean player Sand drove the ball home bringing the game back to the first square ten minutes later. Both teams made dangerous attacks afterwards but could not add more goals.

In the second match of the day, Abu Dhabi- based Al Wahda came from the Western region with three valuable points after beating hosts Al Dhafra with a solitary goal. Brazilian player Fernando Bayano scored the all-important goal of the match only 29 minutes into the game. This victory helped the winners to jump two steps forward to take second position with 11 points while Al Dhafra slipped to the fourth spot with nine points, the same balance that collected by Al Nasr.

Al Nasr and Dubai were tied to a 1-1 draw in the game played at Al Maktoum Stadium. Mounir Bayan put Dubai in the lead in the 71st minute and Ismail Bangoura saved the day for Al Nasr when he netted the equalizer in the first minute of the injury time off a penalty.  Dubai are in the 3rd place with 10 points while Al Nasr are classified second from the bottom with nine points.