Laurent Banide made a winning start to his second reign at Al Dhafra when Saif Mohammed's free-kick helped the hosts down Al Nasr 1-0 last night, despite being reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute.
Dhafra had been without a win since their 2-1 upset over Al Jazira in the fourth round.
The poor results prompted management to announce Dzemal Hadziabdic's departure last week following a 3-0 defeat at Al Wahda.
The change worked for the hosts as Mohammed gave them an 11th-minute lead, and then the whole team defended resolutely to deny Nasr after losing Fawzi Bashir to a second booking.
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