Kalba and Al Ain share spoils as Al Wasl beat Khorfakkan
- 26 Dec 2020
Gulf Today Report
Al Ain dropped two points after drawing 1-1 with Ittihad Kalba at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in matchweek 11 of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Saturday.
Few chances were created in the early stages of the game, with most of the play being confined to the midfield. Al Ain eventually found the back of the net in the 28th minute, thanks to an effort from Wilson Eduardo.
Yahia Nader’s cross found Eduardo, who tapped home to hand his side a 1-0 lead. Eduardo came close to doubling his side’s lead 10 minutes later, but his header went over the bar.
Kalba looked more dangerous after the restart, with substitute Ahmed Jshak making the difference in the front line. In the 68th minute, Jshak dribbled past Al Ain defence and sent an effort towards goal.
Al Ain's Tsukasa Shiotani tried to divert it away from goal, only to send it into the back of the net and hand Kalba the equaliser.
Nader missed a chance to regain Al Ain’s lead, as his effort off a freekick was diverted into a corner by Kalba keeper Jamal Abdalla.
Despite pushing froward, Al Ain failed to regain their lead in the remaining 20 minutes, thanks to the impressive performance of keeper Jamal Abdulla.
Following the draw, the Boss raised their tally to 19 points, one point above Kalba. In the other match of the day, Al Nasr defeated Al Dhafra 2-0 at the Hamdan Bin Zayed Stadium.
Antonio Jose De Carvalho opened the scoring to make it 1-0 before an own goal by Al Dhafra's Mohamed Saif Al Ali in the 58th minute doubled the lead. Earlier, a first-half goal handed Al Wasl a 1-0 win over Khorfakkan at Saqr Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi Stadium in matchweek 11 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday night.
Khorfakkan midfielder Raphael Guimaraes came close to opening the scoring in the 18th minute, but his effort was blocked by Al Wasl defender George Dwubeng.
It was Al Wasl who opened the scoring in the 34th minute, when Nasser Mahmoud Noor sent a perfect shot from outside the penalty area that found the back of Khorfakkan’s net.
The hosts almost made it 1-1 in the 59th minute but Ramon Lopes header was blocked by Al Wasl keeper Humaid Abdulla. Both sides failed to score further goals, as the guests sealed the three points. Al Wasl now sit in eighth place temporarily with 15 points, while Khorfakkan are eleventh with 8 points.