News Center

Al Jazira defeats rivals Al Wasl 3-1 to regain leadership

Abu Dhabi-based Al Jazira emerged sole leaders of the Etisalat Pro-league following a stunning 3-1 victory over their rivals Al Wasl in the concluding match of round seven played at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday evening October 22nd. The winners are now staying on top of the standings with a tally of 17 points, two points ahead of their competitors Al Wasl who slipped to second place. They remain the only squad in the UFL who did not lose a single game as they have drawn twice to Al Wahda and Al Ahli in the third and fourth rounds respectively and beat Al Nasr, Sharjah, Bani Yas, Al Dhafra and Al Wasl. They will face Kalba in the next round in a match due to kick off on next Wednesday while Al Wasl will host Al Ail in the same day.

Both teams, Al Jazira and Al Wasl demonstrated a dazzling display showing a brilliant and balanced performance in front of the ever biggest 28164 fans in the history of The Ufl competition. The hosts' midfielder Ibrahima Diaky, man of the game, scored the first goal only three minutes from the break off Subait Khatir's cross pass. Diaky has become the striker of his team after three expatriates Bary, Delgado and Toni failed to net a single goal since the start of the league championship. Al Wasl Brazilian striker Olivera came close to reduce the deficit when he received a perfect pass from his teammate Yeste from Spain but his shot missed the target in the last minute of the first session.

The visiting team pressed hard in the second half hoping to equalize the game but all their efforts went in vain. Diaky complicated things for their rivals when he added the second in the 67th minute. He received a lovely pass from Sultan Bargash that put him clear and made no mistake to slam the ball home. The visitors' situation became worse but they continued their attempts to come back to the match and their efforts were close to yield a goal, but Mahir Jasim, who faced the goalkeeper Ali Kuseif, failed to score in the 69th minute. But his colleague Rashid Essa compensated for the previous chance two minutes later to net the first goal after receiving a cross pass from Olivera. But Ahmad Juma’a dashed Al Wasl hopes when he scored the third goal in the 86th minute. Al Wasl played the last 8 minutes with two men less after their players Mohammed Al Shaiba from Oman and Essa Rashid were shown red cards.

Earlier in the day, Al Dhafra forced hosts Al Ain to a 1-1 draw at Al Qattara stadium. The visitors took the lead in the 21st minute when Boris Kabi collected the ball and stepped forward before sending a perfect shot into the net. Sand made it 1-1 in the 70th minute off a penalty. Al Ain are in the 8th place with 9 points whilst Al Dhafra collected the 7th point to see them in the 10th position.

Al Shabab moved to 5th place following his 4-1 win over Kalba. The losers' defender Yousuf Mohammed gave the winners the lead after scoring into his own net only ten minutes into the game. Villanueva made it 2-0 scoring the second goal four minutes before the break to end the first half with a 2-0 lead. Cesar slammed home the third seven minutes into the second half and Simon of Kalba scored his team's lone goal in the 66th minute before Nasir Masaud successeded to increase the result scoring the 4th goal in the 75th minute.