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Al Ain overcome Bani Yas 3-0 to come closer to league title

Al Ain strengthened their grib on the league championship and increased their chance to win the 4th edition title of the Etisalat Pro League of this season after beating the visiting team Bani Yas 3-0 in the match played tonight in the 17th round at Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Stadium. Al Ain kept their record of winning all their nine home games since the start of the current season. The hosts raised their tally to 42 points to stay on top of the table with nine points ahead of  Al Shabab who have collected 33 points taking second position.

The winners pressed hard from the very beginning and their Saudi Arabia striker Yaseer Al Gahtani was almost to open the score only two minutes into play when he was put free with only the goalkeeper Mohammad Gholoom to beat, but the latter saved bravely. Ali Al Wihaibi lost a lovely chance a few minutes later before Ahmed Ali squandered an early sitter for the losers in the fifth minute when he faced Al Ain’s custodian Dawood Sulaiman but he shot wide.

Both teams missed the efforts of some of their probables for Al Ain to play without their defender Faris Juma'a for suspension and Omar Abdul Rahman who was admitted to hospital due to a sudden illness and Bani Yas missed both defenders Esmail Buzaid from Al Geria and Yousuf Gabber after collecting three yellow cards each.

Al Ain dominated the game and their efforts were soon rewarded when Ali Al Wihaibi opened the score in the 27th minute off a perfect pass from Yasser Al Gahtani. Bani Yas, who played below the par, could not create dangerous attacks through the entire first session which ended in favor of Al Ain with a lone goal lead.

The hosts continued their domination of the match for Asamoah Gyan to squander a golden chance only two minutes after the interval. But he came to compensate for this chance when he added the second goal in the 55th minute. The losers made every bit of effort afterwards but they failed to reduce the deficit. Asamoah put the match beyond the reach of Bani Yas when he scored his second personal and his team's third goal six minutes from time to lead the scorers with 15 goals, one goal ahead of Al Jazira Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira. The two teams could not add more goals in the last minutes to end the game with a 3-0 win for Al Ain.