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Al Jazira up to third with 3-1 win at Bani Yas

Al Jazira put the brakes on Bani Yas’ top three charge by winning 3-1 at the Bani Yas Stadium in Abu Dhabi in Round 25 of the Etisalat Pro League on Monday night. The game, which was rescheduled due to Bani Yas’ participation in the two-legged final of the Gulf Clubs Championship 28, sees the two sides swap places in the League table with one round left to play, as Al Jazira now occupy third with 46 points and Bani Yas have slipped down to fourth with 44 points.

Al Jazira looked to take an early lead as Argentine midfielder Matias Delgado put Fernandinho through in the 12th minute, and the Brazilian attacker did all the hard work as he rounded Bani Yas’ goalkeeper but a tangle of legs prevented him from getting his shot away. Three minutes later Al Jazira were punished for the miss as Bani Yas got themselves in front when Saleh Al Minhali took everyone by surprise, cutting in on the left-hand side and arrowing a fine right-footed strike in at the far post past the helpless Ali Khaseif to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. Al Jazira rallied as UAE national team midfielder Khamis Esmail hammered a powerful strike on target in the 22nd minute, but it took until just before the break for the visitors to get back on level terms. In the 43rd minute a corner kick was taken short by Delgado, who completed a one-two on the edge of the box with Ricardo Oliveira before crossing in for Abdullah Mousa to thump home a headed equaliser. During added time in the first half, Ricardo Oliveira came close to seizing the lead for Al Jazira as he hit a lovely right-footed shot first time from 30 yards out, but it whistled just past the post.

It was Luis Milla’s men who came out in the ascendency for the second half, with Delgado’s stunning 54th minute free kick from the left calling Mohsin Al Hashmi into making a flying save to tip the effort over the crossbar. Just a minute later the Bani Yas goalkeeper was picking the ball out of the back of his net again as Ricardo Oliveira gave Al Jazira a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute having been put through by Fernandinho. Bani Yas’ task was made tougher when they were reduced to 10 men two minutes later as Thamer Mohammed was shown his second yellow card of the game, and the player advantage swung the game in Al Jazira’s favour even further as Oliveira recorded his brace to make it 3-1 in the 61st minute after Fernandinho unselfishly squared the ball across the box for his compatriot to tap in. Things went from bad to worse for the home side as Amer Abdulrahman was shown his second yellow of the match in the 72nd minute, leaving Bani Yas to play the remaining twenty minutes with 9 men. Oliveira went in search of his hat-trick and blasted wide from a good position in the 74th minute, and Fernandinho, who was instrumental in setting up two of Al Jazira’s goals, almost got himself on the scoresheet in injury time but the 3-1 scoreline was enough to move Al Jazira up to third in the table at the conclusion of the penultimate round in the League.