Two teams upset the form book while the unfancied Dibba continued their decent run by keeping Fujairah under relegation threat with a 4-0 demolition job as hosts on Friday.
Third-placed Al Wasl were stopped in their tracks as Baniyas rallied from a goal deficit to win 2-1 at home while Al Dhafra leapfrogged Sharjah with a 2-0 victory over their hosts.
Mark Milligan and Ishak Belfodil pulled Baniyas up in the mid-table with 29 points much to the delight of Abdullah Misfir on his debut as coach for the team’s remaining matches.
Misfir saw the hosts having the upper hand from the kick off but it was Fabio de Lima who controlled a cross-field pass and darted into the box before finding the net in the 26th minute.
Baniyas sensed an opportunity when Al Wasl’s Rogerio Coutinho had to be stretched off due to injury at the half-hour mark.
In the 39th minute, Milligan found the roof of the goal from close range with a Belfodil header providing the assist.
Four minutes later, Belfodil tapped in a low cross from Joaquim Larrivey to get his name on the scoresheet.
A Milligan header was staved off from the goal line in the only action of note in the second half.
Two goals from Omar Khribin at the Sharjah Stadium took Dhafra eight points away from the relegation zone.
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