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Al Ain increase lead at the top with 3-0 victory at Al Dhafra

Al Ain extended their lead at the top of the Etisalat Pro League table with 3-0 victory over Al Dhafra at the Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium in Round 16 on Thursday evening. The win sees Al Ain remain in first place with a newly increased points total of 40, meanwhile Al Dhafra stay in 11th place with 15 points.

It only took until the 14th minute for Al Ain to get in front with a powerful header from Ismail Ahmed, who was left completely unmarked in the box at a set piece. Al Ain’s attacking prowess dominated in the first half, with Al Dhafra struggling to control the silky skills of Omar Abdulrahman, conceding several fouls against the tricky playmaker. Congolese forward Jires Kembo-Ekoko registered a number shots on target, but was unable to find a way past Abdulbaset Al Hammadi in the Al Dhafra goal.

In the 43rd minute Al Ain doubled their lead when a rasping long-range effort from Kembo-Ekoko rattled the crossbar. An onrushing Ali Al Wehaibi collected the rebound and made no mistake in netting from close range, sending the teams into the halftime break with the score at 2-0.

Al Dhafra made a tactical substitution at half time, bringing on Senegalese striker Makhete Diop for defender Waleid Al Yammahi in an attempt to recover the two-goal deficit, whilst the visitors kept their line-up the same at the start of the second half. In the 60th minute Matei Mirel Radoi was adjudged to have handled the ball, conceding a foul 30 yards from goal. Rodrigo shaped up to shoot for Al Dhafra but the Brazilian’s effort couldn’t clear the Al Ain wall.

Al Ain’s first substitution of the match came as goalscorer Ali Al Wehaibi was replaced in the 70th minute by the League’s top scorer, Asamoah Gyan, who only recently returned from international duty with Ghana at the African Cup of Nations. Meanwhile Al Dhafra made their second change, bringing on Ali Al Hammadi in place of Reda Abdulhadi, in a bid to influence the game to their advantage. Al Hammadi almost had an instant impact, winning another corner for his side, but Amara Diane failed to connect well with the header.

Al Dhafra’s purple patch came to an abrupt end as Al Ain’s clinical finishing proved the difference. Australian striker Alex Brosque collected a square pass in the area and smashed home a sweet left-footed strike to make it 3-0 to the visiting side in the 77th minute. With the game now becoming a frantic end-to-end affair, Al Dhafra had a good chance just a minute later as they were awarded an indirect free kick in the box, but they were unable to make it count, and immediately Al Ain stormed away in attack, with Asamoah Gyan forcing a save from Abdulbaset Al Hammadi at a tight angle.

In a frenetic final ten minutes, Al Ain replaced Alex Brosque with Mohamed Abdulrahman and Helal Saeed came off for Mohamed Al Saedi, whilst Al Dhafra also made their final substitution bringing Abdulla Al Jaberi on for Abdulraheem Jumaa. The home side thought they had pulled a goal back five minutes from time, but Amara Diane’s backheel was ruled out for offside and the game ended with Al Ain as the 3-0 victors.