Bani Yas beat Khorfakkan; Al Wahda held

Bani Yas closed on the gap with second-placed Al Jazira after edging Khorfakkan 2-1 at Saqr Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi Stadium in matchweek 16 of the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday.

The guests needed six minutes only to take the lead, as Sultan Al Shamsi found Khalid Al Hashemi’s inch-perfect cross inside the box and went in a one-on-one situation with the keeper before tapping home.

Bani Yas doubled their lead midway through the first half. Al Hashemi recorded his second assist of the night, as his cross found Joao Pedro who made no mistake slotting the ball in the back of the net.

Less than 15 minutes after the restart, Raphael Guimaraes ‘Dodo’ pulled one back for Khorfakkan, as he found the ball inside the box off a free-kick and tapped home to make it 2-1.

Bani Yas were dealt a blow when Al Hashemi was sent off in the 66th minute for a second booking, forcing his side to continue the game with 10 men.

The Sky Blues earned their second win in a row and raised their tally to 32 points. Meanwhile, Khorfakkan suffered their 9th defeat of the season to remain 11th on 15 points.

Elsewhere, Shabab Al Ahli failed to burst into the top four after playing out a 2-2 draw with Al Wahda in another match of the day.

Al Wahda grabbed the lead midway through the first half when Gianluca Muniz headed the ball home off a free-kick, leaving the Shabab Al Ahli keeper helpless.

The home side pushed forward and eventually found the back of the net, as Mohamed Juma grabbed the equalizer 10 minutes before the break. Igor Jesus’ pass found Juma inside the box and the latter slotted home, as they headed into halftime deadlocked at 1-1.

Carlos Eduardo completed Shabab Al Ahli’s comeback in the 59th minute when he sent a fine strike from the edge of the box off an inch-perfect cross to hand his side a 2-1 advantage.

However, the home side’s lead was short-lived as Khamis Esmaeel levelled the scoreline only one minute later. The 31-year-old midfielder fired a powerful effort from outside the box that left the keeper helpless and kept the Clarets’ hopes alive.

Shabab Al Ahli were reduced to 10 men deep into injury time as Abdullah Al Naqbi received a second booking. However, it had no effect on the result as the game ended in a draw, leaving Shabab Al Ahli in fifth place on 26 points, two above Al Wahda.

Meanwhile, Al Jazira coach Marcel Keizer sounded optimistic about the availability of the defender Mohamed Al Attas against Ittihad Kalba in their 16th round match of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Sunday.

Apprising about the prospect of the defender returning to the fold along with Brandley Kuwas, Keizer said he expects the duo to be fit for the crucial match.

“Al Attas is getting more fit. He did well during the 60 minutes he played against Al Dhafra and he is training well now, and I expect him to be ready for Kalba. We will keep an eye on him and take the final decision about him on Sunday,” said Kiezer.

“Everyone else is available for the game and the trainingsessions are going very well. The team is in a good mood after the positive results against Al Nasr and Al Dhafra,” he added.