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Etisalat Pro League Round 19 Review

Round 19 of the Etisalat Pro League saw some big scores, big scorers, and big movements in the table as leaders Al Ain extended their gap at the top of the standings to 8 points. There is a new look to the top four, as Bani Yas claimed second place and Al Ahli jumped above Al Jazira into third, but at the bottom of the table it is much the same as none of the three struggling sides picked up all three points this round.

Getting proceedings underway in Round 19, Al Shabab suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Al Dhafra on Thursday evening, with goals from Bandar Mohammed and Ali Al Hammadi. The defeat means Al Shabab remain on 30 points in 5th place, whilst Al Dhafra are now 8th with a tally of 21 points.

Also on Thursday evening, Al Jazira were surprisingly held to a 3-3 home draw by a battling Dibba Al Fujairah side. Dropping two points at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium proved costly for Al Jazira, who have now slipped to 4th in the League as a result of other teams around them picking up maximum points, and new coach Luis Milla is yet to record his first win since taking over. Dibba Al Fujairah collected a valuable point on the road in their struggle for safety, but still sit in the danger zone in 13th place on 11 points.

Thursday night saw Al Wasl welcome the League leaders Al Ain to the Zabeel Stadium, and despite a strong performance from the home side, Al Ain proved too strong and came back from a goal down to win 2-1 through an Asamoah Gyan brace. The Ghanaian striker has now surpassed his personal haul of last season and sits in first place on the top scorers list with 24 goals to his name. His team, meanwhile, have extended their advantage at the top of the table to 8 points, whilst Al Wasl continue a disappointing season in 9th place with 20 points.

Kicking off Friday’s action, Ajman travelled to Kalba and came away with all three points after recording a 3-0 win. The victory pulls Ajman further away from the drop zone and gives Abdulwahab Abdulkadir’s side a bit more breathing space with 19 points in 11th place, but Kalba face a real uphill climb to stay in the League as they sit bottom of the table on 10 points.

Also on Friday evening, Al Shaab and Al Nasr shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at the Khaled bin Mohamed Stadium, with Noel Kaseke putting the home side in front before Bruno Cesar scored his 11th goal of the season to equalise for Al Nasr. Al Shaab remain in a precarious position in 12th on 11 points, whilst Al Nasr are 6th with a tally of 29 and have a home tie in the AFC Champions League to come this week.

Bani Yas and Al Wahda also played out a 1-1 draw at the Bani Yas Stadium on Friday night, with Mohamed Jaber putting the home side ahead before an unfortunate Nawaf Mubarak own goal handed Al Wahda an equaliser. Bani Yas will consider it two points dropped at home as they sit second in the table but fall 8 points behind Al Ain, and the sky blues also suffered an injury blow as Swedish international Christian Wilhelmsson was stretchered off during the game. The draw keeps Al Wahda 7th with an increased tally of 28 points.

Closing the round was the weekend’s highest-scoring game; a nine-goal thriller that saw Al Ahli record a 6-3 away win over Dubai. Grafite’s hat-trick, a brace from Luiz Jimenez and Ricardo Quaresma’s first Etisalat Pro League goal secured the victory for Quique Flores’ Al Ahli side, despite a late rally from Dubai to score three consolation goals after the tie was already effectively over. The goal-filled win moves Al Ahli up to 3rd in the table on 36 points, whilst Rene Marsiglia’s Dubai continue on their poor run of form after a promising start to the season, sitting 10th on 19 points.