Michael N'dri set up a first-half goal and struck the winner in the 62nd minute as Al Shaab defeated Kalba 2-1 in a game that gave the home team a significant boost in their push to remain in the Pro League.
Kalba remain rooted to the bottom of the table, on 10 points, but Al Shaab moved alone into 12th place in the league, on 14 points.
Faisal Khalil scored in the 32nd minute for Shaab, and Mohammed Mulallah levelled in the 57th minute.
Also, Rami Yaslam's goal two minutes from the break was enough for Dubai to end a frustrating run of five defeats in the league.
The former Al Ain player and UAE international scored in the 43rd minute to give Dubai a 1-0 victory over the relegation-threatened Dibba Al Fujairah last night.
Dubai's victory moved them up to 10th in the league, 11 points ahead of Dibba.
Al Dhafra notched up their fourth successive victory with a resounding 3-0 away result over Ajman in the other early game.
The visitors had the game virtually won in the first half as Makhete Diop scored his 10th and 11th league goals, and Hazza Salem added a third, in the 38th minute.
Rodrigo Silva went down in the area in the ninth minute after what appeared the slightest of contact with Ahmed Ibrahim, the Ajman defender. However, the spot kick from the Brazilian was blocked by Jaber Jasim, the goalkeeper, and Diop came off the line to tap in the rebound.
The Senegalese beat the offside trap to fire in his second, in the 26th minute, and Salem put the result beyond doubt when he scored off a blunder from Jasim who, in a hurry to release the ball, threw it towards the Dhafra midfielder.
Salem had all the time in the world to take aim and coolly shoot it to an empty net with the goalkeeper out of his position.
Ajman tried in vain to close the gap as the visitors defended stubbornly to reserve their lead and return with three points.
Dhafra remain in eighth but improved their tally to 27, only eight behind the fourth-placed Al Jazira with six games left.
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