Al Jazeera leads the league
Unity is victorious in the "Derby" ... and happiness is for the Bani Yas
Al Wahda players celebrate victory on Al Jazeera.
Photography: Eric Arazas
Al-Wehda presented a precious gift to Bani Yas, after Al-Annabi defeated Al-Jazeera with two goals without a response in the Derby yesterday, at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, at the conclusion of the 22nd round of the Arab Gulf League matches. The pride of Abu Dhabi »at the top of the league standings, after his score stopped at 47 points, retreating to second place behind Bani Yas, who was alone at the top of the standings with 48 points.
The match witnessed a great speed in the pace of the game since the beginning of the match, especially from the side of Al-Jazira who missed three chances in the first 15 minutes, the first when Zayed Al-Ameri penetrated from the left side, and played a cross to Khalfan Mubarak, who hit a weak ball in the hand of goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Shamsi ( 2) While the Serbian Milos Kosanovic hit a powerful ball from a direct free kick, Al Shamsi blocked it (9), and Dutchman Brandley Coase wasted a dangerous opportunity from a cross played by Khalifa Al Hammadi, and Kwas followed it with his head, but the ball went over the crossbar (11).
On the other hand, the unit entered the atmosphere of the meeting, after the team captain, Ismail Matar, who played a cross, met with Slovenian Tim Matavz with a wonderful shot "on the bird", but the ball over the crossbar (18).
The performance of the two teams declined in the last 15 minutes of the first half, after caution prevailed over the players' performance, and it was the most prominent opportunity from a ball played by Khalfan Mubarak, and met by Moroccan Mohamed Rabie with his head, but Muhammad Al-Shamsi shone in tackling the ball (33).
As for the second half, excitement increased after Tim Matavz scored the first goal from a missile ball that he shot from inside the penalty area (52), and Al Jazeera coach, Dutch Marcel Kaiser, responded by making two substitutions by Nigerian Emuh Ezekiel and Abdullah Idris instead of Zayed Al Ameri and Khalifa Al Hammadi.
Al-Jazeera dominated the midfield after the "Annabi" players retreated to the center of its stadium, relying on counterattacks that were very dangerous by Ismail Matar, the Syrian Omar Khribin and Khalil Ibrahim, as Khribin hit a dangerous ball, which Ali Khasif (75) confronted, before For Ismail Matar to add the second goal in the 76th minute of a typical counter attack, which was led by "Samaa" himself and passed the ball to Matavz, who returned it to Matar and the latter completed it in the net.
And Khalil Ibrahim received a second warning and a red card, to end the match with the victory of Al-Wehda, and the competition for the league title flared up four rounds before the end of the competition.
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