Ten-man Al Ain hold Al Jazira to draw in Abu Dhabi derby
- 02 Nov 2019
Ten-man Al Ain held Al Jazira to a goalless draw in Abu Dhabi derby at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in matchweek 6 of the Araban Gulf League. Al Ain suffered an early blow as Mohamed Shaker was shown a straight red card in the 13th minute for his challenge on Ali Mabkhout.
In the 17th minute, the Boss were awarded a freekick kick in a dangerous zone, however, Bandar Al Ahbabi right footed effort cannoned off the crossbar to keep the game deadlocked.
Al Jazira responded in the 36th minute through Omar Abdulrahman, who penetrated inside the box, but his left footed shot was parried away by Khalid Eisa.
In the second half, the Pride of Abu Dhabi carried on from where they left and in the 57th minute, Milos Kosanovic’s long range freekick effort missed the target by a narrow range. In the dying moments of the game, Mabkhout wasted a glorious chance to snatch the victory for his side when he recived the ball behind Al Ain’s defence, however, his right footed low strike went just wide off target.
After the draw, Al Ain and Al Jazira continue to occupy the third and fourth spots with 13 and 11 points respectively. The Boss are set to host Bani Yas, meanwhile, Al Jazira will face Sharjah both on Nov.7, be in attendance as well.
Earlier, Alvaro Negredo’s penalty was the difference as Al Nasr continued their resurgence with a 1-0 victory over Khorfakkan at Ittihad Kalba Stadium in matchweek 6 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday.
The Blues dominated possession throughout the opening half, but Khorfakkan were able to limit them to chances few and far between. Mahmoud Khamis was Al Nasr’s biggest attacking outlets as the left-back romped up the left flank frequently.
Al Nasr came close to breaking the deadlock eight minutes after the restart when Brandley Kuwas’ cross from the right was headed on by Toze, but the midfielder’s header was saved by goalkeeper Mohammed Yousef.
Negredo stepped up and slotted from the penalty spot after Kuwas was brought down in the box 15 minutes from time. The Spaniard’s strike proved to be the only goal of the night.
The Blues are now up to fifth place with ten points, while Khorfakkan are bottom of the table with two points.