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Sharjah relegate to First Division; Al Wahda win in Abu Dhabi derby

 

Sharjah Football Team relegated officially to the First Division following their 1-2 loss to Ajman in the Etisalat Pro League penultimate round of this season while Dubai revived their hopes to stay for another season after beating Al Wasl 5-2. The Emirates situation have become very critical after losing 3-5 to Al Nasr, Al Wahda defeated Al Jazira 3-2, Al Ahli overcame Bani Yas 6-4 and Al Ain continued their winning streak with a 3-1 victory over Al Shabab.

Ajman are currently in 7th spot with 31st points after beating Sharjah 2-1 and forced them to relegate to First Division with only 10 points. Togy and Karim Karkar scored for Ajman while Marcelinho netted Sharjah's lone goal.

 

Al Nasr came from behind when they were one goal down as Emirates took the lead via Diyara from Côte D'ivoire with a perfect header only four minutes into play. The winners leveled the score three minutes before the break through Italian striker Luca Toni to end the first session with a 1-1 draw. Younis Ahmed scored the second goal for Al Nasr in the 50th minute and Waleed Anbar made it 2-2 in the 61st minute, but the winners netted three more goals via Jamal Ibrahim (two goals) and Habeeb Al Fardan. Al Nasr raised their tally to 40 points taking second position while Emirates are still second from the bottom with only 14 points.

 

On the other hand Al Wahda maintained an important win when they beat their city rivals Al Jazira 3-2 to stay in fifth spot with 33 points while the losers' balance was frozen at 35 points taking their 4th previous place. Al Jazira were the first to find the back of the net only 8 minutes into play via defender Abdullah Mousa but Brazilian Magrao of Al Jazira made 1-1 in the 30th minute. Brazilian Bayano ended the first half with a 2-1 lead when he scored the second goal for Al Wahda nine minutes before the breather. Alo Ali made it 3-1 in the 60th minute and Bary reduced the deficit when he netted Al Jazira's second goal two minutes into injury time.

 

Dubai-based Al Ahli and Bani Yas came up with the biggest result in this round as the formers beat their opponents 6-4 to sit in sixth position with 31 points while Bani Yas are in 9th spot with 23 points. The winners ended the first session with a 4-0 win scored by Ahmed Khalil in the 12th minute and Chilean Jiminez who netted a hat trick in the 23rd, 32nd and 38th minutes. Lebanese defender and Eman from Cameroon added two more goals for Al Ahli in the 65th and the last minute while Senegalese Sengahoor also scored a hat trick for Bani Yas in the 67th, 75th and 78th minutes and Saleh Al Minhali scored their 4th goal in the 83rd minute.

Al Ain continued their positive results with a 3-1 victory over visiting team Al Shabab. The losers took the lead off a penalty kick scored by Adil Abdullah in the 17th minute but Saudi player Yasser Al Gahtani leveled the result in the 37th minute to end the first session with a 1-1 draw. Defender Ismael Ahmed and Ghanaian pro Asamoah Gyan scored two goals for the home team in the 52nd and 86th minutes. Al Ain raised their tally to 52 points while Al Shabab remain in third position with 37 points.

 

In another game Dubai overcame Al Wasl 5-2 to raise their tally to 17 points to revive their hopes to stay in the Etisalat Pro League while the losers are in 8th place with 26 points.