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Bani Yas and Al Dhafra share points with a 2-2 draw

Both Bani Yas and Al Dhafra were content with their 2-2 draw in the Etisalat Pro League round 23 match played this evening at Bani Yas Stadium in Al Shamkha. Each side added a single point to their tally to retain their previous positions in the table for Bani Yas to remain in third spot on 43 points while Al Dhafra are 8th with 30 points.

Bani Yas dominated the proceedings in major parts of the first session and initiated several concerted moves through the trio including the Swedish Christian Wilhelmsson, Egyptian Mohammad Abutraika and Senegalese Andre Senghor supported from behind by Nawaf Mubarak, but they failed to capitalize on the chances that came their way in front of Al Dhafra’s goal who refused to give up under continuous pressure. On the other hand, Al Dhafra exerted more efforts trying to find the target but their attacks were easily spoiled by Bani Yas defenders with great confidence.

Against the run of play, Al Dhafra were the first to open the scores off the ball fired by Bander Mohammad from inside the box but was hit back by the hand of the goalkeeper Obaid Al Taweela for Bander to switch the loose ball in front of the goal mouth and Makhete Diop rose and hit the back of the net with a strong header giving the visiting team a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute.

Bani Yas were embarrassed after conceding this goal especially they were playing in front of their home crowd and endeavoring strongly to end the competition securing one of the three remaining top positions.They struggled hard and doubled their work until the 33rd minute when the match referee awarded them a free kick outside the box for Nawaf Mubarak to send a left-footed shot that beat the goalkeeper Khalid Al Sinani for the game to turn back to the starting point. The two teams began looking for the winner, but both did not succeed in making their dreams come true to end the first half with a 1-1 draw.

Makhete Diop scored his second personal goal only two minutes after the breather with a strong header off Abdulsalam Jumaa’s long pass giving Al Dhafra a 2-1 lead. The visitors retreated to their back line afterwards to defend their narrow lead and this tactics paved the way for Bani Yas to put more pressure on them and create a series of scoring chances which resulted in the equalizer netted by Mohammad Fawzi in the 55th minute.

After the second draw, the two sides demonstrated a competitive display and their coaches made some substitutions and both created some chances but all their efforts were in vain. The situation remained unchanged up to the end of the encounter for each team to come out with a lone point.