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Bani Yas 3-1 Al Ain: Sky Blues start season in style

Fawaz Awana and Nawaf Mubarak kicked off Bani Yas’ UAE League Cup campaign in style by inspiring their side to a 3-1 win over Al Ain at the Bani Yas Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night. The win, marred only by the concession of a second-half Mohammed Abdulrahman penalty, gives Jorge da Silva’s side three points in Group A of the new-look competition.

Bani Yas looked lively from the get-go, and as early as the 6th minute Fawaz Awana tried an audacious backheel on the turn from Nawaf Mubarak’s free kick, and his spectacular effort was only just over the crossbar. It didn’t take long for the same player to go one better as he put his side into a 14th-minute lead. Again the source of the assist was a stinging Nawaf Mubarak free kick from distance, which was parried by Al Ain goalkeeper Dawoud Sulaiman, but Fawaz Awana anticipated well and was on hand to tap in the rebound. It wasn’t all one way traffic though, with most of Al Ain’s good movements coming through the midfield general Diaky. In the 25th min Al Ain broke away in attack and the former Al Jazira man launched a rocketing shot from distance, which Mohsin Al Hashmi flew across goal to catch. Al Ain had another good chance on the stroke of half time as Diaky did well to put Yousef Ahmed through, but the youngster’s shot was saved and Al Ain remained a goal down at the break.

Luis Fariña, who showed flashes of his precocious talent in the first half, came close to extending the home side’s lead by working Dawoud Sulaiman, but it was a member of the old guard who doubled Bani Yas’ advantage in the 53rd minute as the productive Nawaf Mubarak scored Bani Yas’ second goal of the night. Al Ain were handed a route back into the game when Thamer Mohammed was adjudged to have handled in the area, and Mohammed Abdulrahman emphatically dispatched his 59th minute penalty to make it 2-1. But Al Ain’s lifeline faded fast as Nawaf Mubarak scored his second and Bani Yas’ third of the night exactly a minute later. The set piece specialist curled a left-footed free kick into the area, and the ball evaded everyone to nestle in the far corner and give Bani Yas a 3-1 advantage on the hour. The last half hour of the game saw a raft of substitutions from each side, disrupting the earlier flow, and Bani Yas comfortably retained their 3-1 scoreline.