Pro League round-up: Al Jazira and Kalba's woes continue

Al Ain rally past Al Shabab, but Luis Milla's men go down 3-2 at home to Al Wasl while Kalba remain bottom of the table.

Al Wasl's Emiliano Alfaro celebrates scoring the winning penalty against Al Jazira.
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Al Jazira 2 Al Wasl 3

Al Jazira Delgado 3', Fernandinho 37'
Al Wasl Abdullah 21, Emana 46', Alfaro 80' (pen)

Al Jazira's disappointing run under new coach Luis Milla continued last night when they lost 3-2 at home to Al Wasl.

The hosts, fourth on the league points table, had made the perfect start when Argentine Matias Delgado gave them a 3rd minute, but Khalifa Abdulla levelled the scores in the 21st minute. Brazilian Fernandinho's 37th minute strike, however, allowed Jazira to finish the first half with a 2-1 lead.

The second half, however, belonged to Wasl as Achille Emana equalised in the opening minute of the second half, stealing the ball from Delgado's feet and playing a neat one-two with Jussie before slotting home.

The visitors should have gone ahead in the 63rd minute, but Emiliano Alfaro was denied by the post. The Uruguayan, however, was on the mark in the 81st minute, converting from the spot to give Wasl a morale-boosting win.

Milla now has just one win from eight games since replacing Paulo Bonamigo at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in late February.

Al Ain 2 Al Shabab 1

Al Ain Brosque 78' (pen), Ahmad 81'
Al Shabab Henrique 50'

Al Ain rallied from a goal down to beat a 10-man Al Shabab 2-1, with both their goals coming after Essa Mohammed was given his marching orders for a second booking.

Missing their star duo of Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdulrahman through injury, Al Ain struggled to stamp their class in the opening half and were harried by Shabab right through.

The visitors then silenced the home fans by taking the lead five minutes into the second half when Luiz Henrique headed in Ciel’s cross.

A goal down, Al Ain upped their game and finally got the equaliser in the 78th minute from the penalty spot after Essa Mohammed had handled the ball inside the box.

It was the second booking of the night for the Shabab defender and he was given the marching orders, and Alex Brosque converted from the spot.

The hosts then got their second in the 81st minute when Yousuf Ahmed beat the off-side trap to put the ball into the back of the net.

Al Dhafra 1 Kalba 0

Al Dhafra Diop 64'

Makhete Diop’s strike helped hosts Al Dhafra down a battling Kalba 1-0.

Kalba, languishing at the bottom of the Pro League table with 10 points, provided a stiff test for mid-table Dhafra, but Diop’s 64th-minute goal gave the hosts a third successive win in the league and took their tally to 24 points.

arizvi@thenational.ae