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Al Jazira tighten their grib to remain UFL leaders

Al Jazira tightened their grib on the Etisalat Pro-League Competition to top the standings following a deserved 2-1 victory over hosts Al Nasr. The winners raised their tally to 32 points, 8 ahead of second- placed Bani Yas who will face Al Shabab on Saturday.

Al Jazira and Al Nasr played a balanced and thrilling game marred by organized and attacking football especially in the second session during which both teams launched a number of dangerous and continuous raids. Ismael Bangoura from Guinea squandered two sitters in the first half when he shot two severe vollies that missed the target. The visitors' Brazilian striker Bare put his side into the lead only 20 minutes from the word go to raise his record to 7 goals. He came close to make it 2-0 when Al Nasr's defender Hilal Saeed made a mistake for Oliveira to put Bare clear, he rounded up the home team's advancing custodian but for his bad fortune, his ball missed the empty net.

The hosts played brilliantly in the second half and their efforts were soon rewarded when Brazilian Rodrigo Vergilio drove the ball home six minutes after the break. Al Jazira pressed hard afterwards aiming to score the second goal and they were about to make it when Juma'a Abdulla sent a perfect header that rebounded off the right up in the 59th minute. Al Nasr also missed an opportunity three minutes later when Rodrigo found himself clear with only the goalkeeper to beat, but Ali Khusaif saved the day for his side. It was the visiting team who netted the second goal when Humaid Abbas brought Bare down inside the box for a penalty five minutes from the final whistle and Ibrahim Diaky made no mistake to secure a 2-1 win for Al Jazira.

On the other hand, Dubai have snatched three valuable points after beating visitors Al Ain with a solitary goal in the opening encounter of the second half of the season of the Etisalat Pro-League played tonight at the winners pitch.  This win helped the hosts' squad to jump two steps forward to sit in 9th spot provisionally with 12 points while the losers slipped one step downward after collecting 11 points. Both teams demonstrated poor display in the first session which ended with a goalless result. They could not create dangerous attacks through all 45 minutes and most of their trials to hit the back of the net were off stand balls which did not help them to threaten the two goalkeepers. The two teams recovered after the break when their players became more dynamic and enthusiastic, launching fast attacks, but all their efforts went in vain. Al Ain Brazilian player Elias Riberio was the first to open the score when he tried to drive the ball home from inside the box, but Dubai's goalkeeper Jamal Ali saved bravely 6 minutes into the second half time. Al Ain Brazilian coach Alexander Gallo made his first substitution in the 63rd t minute when he pulled off Elias and brought in Abdul Aziz Fayez.

The losers' defender Mohanad Al Anezy committed a severe error when he failed to clear away the ball from the six yard area for the home team to capitalize on this mistake to take the lead. Dubai's striker Hassan Mohammed, who was located just a few meters from the Al Ain's goal line, scored the all-important goal of the match off a ball switched by a teammate from the left flank.

After scoring the lone goal of the game, the home team players returned back to defend their narrow deficit depending on counter attacks. Al Ain pressed hard to level the score and they came close to make it in many occasions, but they failed to find the way to the net in spite of the substitutions their coach had made in the last 20 minutes. Al Ain squandered three sitters through Mohanad Al Anezy off a backward play in the 77th minute that deflected by the goalkeeper to a corner, another was lost by substitute Bander Mohammed who was sent clear by midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman but he shot into the goalkeeper's hands two minutes before the original time, and in the third occasion Juma'a Saeed's close range volley rebounded off the right up before being cleared away by a defender 5 minutes into injury time.