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Kalba maintained second win in the Etisalat Pro-League Competition

 

Kalba maintained their second win since the start of the Etisalat Pro-League after beating the visiting team Al Wahda 5-3 in the first match of the 2nd day of Round 13 played this evening at the winners' ground. In spite of this victory which raised their tally to 7 points, Kalba are still in the relegation zone.

Elia De Olivera of Kalba gave his side the lead after netting an early goal three minutes into the game before his colleague Mohammed Mal Allah came to sore the second in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0. Al Wahda player, Ismail Mattar pulled one back in the 36th minute, but Mal Allah came to score his second personal goal two minutes later to end the first session with a 3-1 lead for his side.

Kalba went on controlling the game in the second half  and their French player Gregory Dufrennes succeeded in netting the 4th goal three minutes after the break to add much to the owes of the visitors. Ismail Mattar again was on target to reduce the deficit in the 52nd minute, but Mansour Mohammed made things difficult for Al Wahda when he scored the 5th goal in the 55th minute. Al Wahda tried their best to add more goals but they netted only one through Ismail Mattar who slammed his team's 3rd goal to complete his hat trick in the 91st minute.

In the second encounter played late in the day at Al Wasl Stadium in Zabeel, the home team got the better of Al Ahli beating them 2-0.  Al Wasl jumped forward to take 5th spot with 20 points, one step behind Al Shabab on goal difference while the losers are staying in their previous 3rd position with 21 points. Both Al Wasl's goals were scored in the second session after the two teams were tied to a goalless draw before the break. The two squads played a balanced and competitive game, but the hosts capitalized much on Ismail Al Hammadi's sent off in the last minute of the first halt for his team Al Ahli to miss his efforts in the whole second session.

Kareem Al Ahmadi came close to snatch a goal for the losers' but he was unlucky to see his close-range shot rebounded off the upright into the hands of Al Wasl's goalkeeper Majid Nasser in the 66th minute. Saeed Al Kas put Al Wasl in the lead three minutes later after receiving a cross pass from his dynamic teammate Rashid Essa who sent the ball from the right flank into the mouth of the goal for Al Kas to drive it home. Al Ahli worked hard afterwards to level the score but all their attempts were spoiled by their opponents' defenders. Rashid Essa came again to send another cross pass to Omran Abdul Rahman who did not hesitate to add the second to secure the result for his team Al Wasl.

The Etisalat Pro-League Competition will come to a break after Round 13 for more than one month due to the quarterfinals matches of the President's Cup Competition, the semifinals games of the Etisalat Competition, the participation of some teams in the 2011 AFC Champions League along with UAE Olympic team's two matches against Sri Lanka.