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Conflict continues between the three top teams and five squads facing relegation

The tough conflict continues between the trio who are staying on top of the standings of the Pro-League Competition for the current season which includes leaders Al Ain with 30 points followed by Al Nasr and Al Jazira in the second and third places after collecting 27 and 26 points respectively. The situation remained as before by the end of round 13 regarding the standings of the top three teams who continued successfully their winning streak. Al Ain overcame their traditional contenders Al Wahda with a solitary goal in their "clasico" game which was attended by 10322 spectators which boosted the moral of the players.

Al Nars also beat Ajman 2-1 when they were one goal down scored by Boris Kabi, but Breciano from Australia leveled the score and his new Italian teammate Luca Toni netted the winner to save the day for his side giving them three invaluable points that helped them to retain the runner up position. Al Jazira humiliated Sharjah with a 5-0 win netted by Brazilian Ricardo Oliveira who scored 4 goals to maintain the first super hat trick in the season to top the scorers table with 13 goals and his colleague Abdullah Mousa added one of the five goals.

Four teams namely Al Ain, Al Wasl, Emirates and Al Jazira emerged winners at their home ground in the 13th round which saw only one draw between Al Shabab and Dubai. Al Nasr were the only team who snatched three points from their rivals' pitch.

Emirates were the most beneficiary team in the last round following their 2-1 victory over Al Ahli in the game played at the winners' home ground in Ras Al Khaimah to raise their tally to 10 points taking 10th spot. The Emirates win pushed Sharjah down to stay second from the bottom of the table after being beaten by Al Jazira 5-0. Sharjah are in a critical position in spite of all changes they have made at the level of Administration, technical body as well as local and expatriate players. So they have to reorganize their lines as there are still 9 rounds to come. Al Wasl also benefited much in the previous round when they defeated the visiting team Bani Yas with a lone goal scored by Oliveira from Uruguay only 18 minutes into play in the match played in Zabeel to move one step forward taking 5th place after raising their balance to 21 points the same that was collected by Al Shabab, but the latters are sitting in 4th position on goal difference.

The 13th round has kept Al Shabab, Al Wasl, Al Wahda and Al Ahli in the warm zone, but both Al Shabab and Al Wasl still have the chance to continue their endeavors to enter the competition as they are lying only nine points behind leaders Al Ain which is not a big difference in the World of Football and yet there are still nine rounds to be played. But their success depends on their positive results and moreover they need other teams to hinder the march of the top teams Al Ain, Al Nasr and Al Jazira and this situation makes their stint a little bit difficult.  

On the other hand, still there is a mystery at the bottom of the table as five teams are facing relegation; Dubai, who are at the bottom of the standings with 7 points after they succeeded in snatching one point from Al Shabab, in addition to Sharjah who are classified in 10th position with 9 points behind Bani Yas who have 13 points and Ajman with 15 points.

It is worth mentioning that matches of round 14 of the league will be held over 3 days, where both Al Ahli and Al Shabab will meet on next Monday at Rashid Stadium in Dubai.  Two games will be played the following day as Sharjah will host their counterpart Emirates and Al Wahda face Al Nasr at Al Nahyan Stadium in the capital Abu Dhabi.

The upcoming round will be concluded on Wednesday February 15 when Dubai take on Al Ain on their pitch, Bani Yas host Al Jazira in Al Shamkha and Al Wasl play at home against Ajman in Zabeel.