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Al Ain await fate as already-qualified Al Jazira draw 4-4

Al Ain made wholesale changes to their side for their Etisalat Cup away trip to Al Shaab, fielding an entirely different starting 11 from their last game, knowing that their fate in the competition rests entirely on the result between Ajman and Al Shabab in the evening’s late kick-off. Al Ain took the lead in the 30th minute through a fine chip from Yousef Ahmed, before Al Shaab equalised two minutes later through Noel Kaseke’s shot, which took a heavy deflection on the way through to nestling in the back of the net. Al Ain restored their lead just before half-time as Abdullah Malalla’s right-footed shot beat Mutaz from close range to make it 2-1, and in the second half Yousef Ahmed notched his second of the game to secure a 3-1 win for Al Ain.

Al Jazira were held to a 4-4 draw by Al Dhafra but the result was irrelevant as they had already qualified at the top of Group B. Al Dhafra took the lead through Ibrahim Abdulla in the fifth minute before Ricardo Oliveira leveled for Al Jazira, sending the teams in tied at 1-1 at half time. The second half saw an explosion of goals as Ricardo Oliveira bagged his brace to put Al Jazira 2-1 up in the 47th minute, before Amara Diane made it 2-2 in the 61st minute. Al Dhafra were reduced to 10 men in the 71st minute as Mohamed Qassim was shown the red card, but they restored their lead five minutes later when Ali Msarri made it 3-2. In the 81st minute Msarri got on the scoresheet again, but this time at the wrong end as he put through his own net to make it 3-3, but four minutes later Al Dhafra went 4-3 up through Hamad Al Marri but the scoring was not over until the 88th minute when Fernandinho equalised for Al Jazira.

Kalba defeated Bani Yas 2-1 at home, with goals from Mohamed Malalla and Edward Sadomba with a penalty in the 51st minute, whilst Fawaz Awana replied for the sky blues, also from the penalty spot. Neither team could qualify from Group B so the match was more an exercise of fitness.

Al Nasr suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Dubai in a game of no relevance to either side, as they had no possibilities to qualify from Group A. Al Nasr still fielded a number of First Team regulars including captain Leonardo Lima, who will be suspended when the Etisalat Pro League resumes on 29th March due to his red card in the last round. Despite the redundant result, Rene Marsiglia will be glad that his Dubai side finally got a win under their belts after a poor run of form. Richard Porta opened the scoring with a penalty in the 72nd minute and Brazilian player Careca got a second for Dubai ten minutes from time.