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Bani Yas outclass Al Dhafra 4-2 to jump to second place; Al Shaab hold Dubai to 1-1 draw

Bani Yas jumped to second place in Group "A" following their 4-2 deserved victory over Al Dhafra in the Etisalat Cup sixth round match played this evening at Bani Yas Stadium in Al Shamkha. The winners raised their tally to 9 points, the same balance of Al Wasl, but the formers are ahead of Al Wasl on head – to – head matches whereas Al Dhafra are 4th with 6 points.

The home team looked the better side from the very beginning after launching a number of forays trying to surprise their opponents with an early goal. Their hard work was soon rewarded when Khalid Mubarak put them into the lead only 7 minutes into play. Al Dhafra started looking for the equalizer in order to come back into the match while the hosts tried their best to double their advantage. But it was the visiting squad who made their dreams come true when the match referee Fahd Al Kasar awarded them a penalty when Ali Al Hamadi was brought down inside the box by Thamir Mohammed in the 12th minute. Al Hamadi made no mistake when he sent a strong shot into the right top corner making it 1-1. But Bani Yas' defender Thamir Mohammed came to compensate for his severe blunder when he netted the second goal 8 minutes later. Al Dhafra dominated the match afterwards making some good attacks which were spoiled by the hosts' defenders and the situation remained without change till the end of the first session.

Despite of the hosts' control of the game after the breather, but the visiting team did not give up but they continued their hard work till they were able to bring the game back to first box when Ali Al Hamadi scored his second goal to make it 2-2 in the 71st minute. Bani Yas doubled their work for the substitute Fareed Ismail to add the third goal six minutes later and Fawaz Awana concluded the rout scoring the fourth goal two minutes to time.

In the other match of the day, Al Shaab held Dubai to a 1-1 draw at Al Aweer Stadium. Dubai are fourth in Group "A" with 4 points while Al Shaab are at the bottom of the table with only two points. Ali Hassan put the hosts into the lead in the 58th minute and Nasser Khamis leveled the scoring in the 90th minute.