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Al Ahli beat defending champions Al Ain 6-3; Dubai and Dibba Al Fujairah draw goalless

Al Ain Football Team, holders of the last season Etisalat Pro League title, lost their opening match from Al Ahli with a 6-3 result which was held tonight at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium in Qattara. The winners’ Brazilian attacker Grafite netted a super hat trick and his teammates Basheir Saeed and Chilean Luis Jimenez scored one each, while Asamoah Geyan netted a brace for the losers and Kimpo Ekoko added the third.
The home team pressed hard from the word go launching a number of forays in the opening minutes but failed to score. Their Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan gave them the lead only 12 minutes from the start, but Grafite levelled the score six minutes later. Al Ain looked the dominating side after exerting more efforts that helped them to take the advantage over the visiting team for the French striker Ekoko to end the second half with a 2-1 lead for the hosts after sending a fierce shot that beat the keeper Obaid Al Taweela seven minutes before the break.
Al Ahli’s defender Basheir Saeed made it 2-2 four minutes into the second session and Grafite added another to give the visitors the lead three minutes later capitalizing on an error committed by Al Ain’s goalie Dawood Sulaiman. Al Ain’s coach Olario Cosmin brought in Hilal Saeed in the 59th minute to replace Yaqoob Al Hosani.  Grafite made things difficult for the hosts when he netted the fourth goal in the 65th minute before Asamoah Gyan succeeded to pull one back through a penalty kick in the 72nd minute. But Al Ahli continued their superiority over their rivals for Grafite to add his fourth personal and the team’s fifth goal and his colleague Jimenez completed the rout scoring the sixth goal to secure three valuable points to his side.
In the second encounter played at Dubai Club Stadium, Dubai and Dibba Al Fujairah ended their first match with a goalless draw.