Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ahli restored a modicum of normalcy yesterday, ending their winless skid in league play with a 2-0 home victory over last-place Kalba.
Ahli had not won a league match since beating Al Jazira 4-2 at the Rashid Stadium on October 18, drawing the following two matches before losing 1-0 at home to Emirates and 2-1 at Al Nasr in the next two.
Kalba put up a brave resistance for much of the first half, only for Ahli defender Salmeen Khamis to break the deadlock just before half time.
Khamis’ glancing header from Habib Fardan’s free kick gave Cosmin Olaroiu’s side a 1-0 lead going into the break.
Basheer Saeed doubled the lead less than two minutes after the restart, scoring on a thumping, left-footed volley from a corner kick. Ahli had two late strikes ruled out for offside but still saw out the victory.
Ahli remained in seventh place in the league table after the victory, level on 16 points with city rivals Al Wasl.
Kalba slumped to their 10th defeat in 11 league matches, sitting bottom of the table with one point.
Elsewhere, Al Jazira missed a chance to go top of the league after losing 2-1 at home to Sharjah. Victory would have allowed Jazira to leap over Al Wahda, whose 20-match league unbeaten run came to an end at Al Ain, but Yousif Saeed and Wanderley struck to give the visitors victory.
Playing without top scorer Mirko Vucinic and playmaker Manuel Lanzini, Jazira’s attack – with Jonathan Pitroipa, Jucilei da Silva and Ali Mabkhout behind Ahmed Ghilani – produced little end product.
Substitute Ahmed Al Attas equalised for the hosts on 74 minutes, only for Wanderley to grab the winner four minutes later with his seventh league goal of the season.
The final minutes were marred by two red cards, with Jazira’s Khamis Esmail sent off for a second yellow card and Sharjah’s Shahin Abulrahman given a straight red. Sharjah rose to ninth place on 12 points, with Jazira sitting third on 21.
In the late match, Al Nasr strolled to a 3-0 home victory over Emirates.
Nasr moved level with Jazira on 21 points, one clear of fifth-place Al Ain, who have two matches in hand.
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Results
2pm: Serve U – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Violent Justice, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
2.30pm: Al Shafar Investment – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Desert Wisdom, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ahmed Al Shemaili
3pm: Commercial Bank of Dubai – Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Fawaareq, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
3.30pm: Shadwell – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
4pm: Dubai Real Estate Centre – Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Rakeez, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
4.30pm: Al Redha Insurance Brokers – Handicap (TB) Dh78,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Capla Crusader, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
Mobile phone packages comparison
Champion v Champion (PFL v Bellator)
Heavyweight: Renan Ferreira v Ryan Bader
Middleweight: Impa Kasanganay v Johnny Eblen
Featherweight: Jesus Pinedo v Patricio Pitbull
Catchweight: Ray Cooper III v Jason Jackson
Showcase Bouts
Heavyweight: Bruno Cappelozza (former PFL World champ) v Vadim Nemkov (former Bellator champ)
Light Heavyweight: Thiago Santos (PFL title contender) v Yoel Romero (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Clay Collard (PFL title contender) v AJ McKee (former Bellator champ)
Featherweight: Gabriel Braga (PFL title contender) v Aaron Pico (Bellator title contender)
Lightweight: Biaggio Ali Walsh (pro debut) v Emmanuel Palacios (pro debut)
Women’s Lightweight: Claressa Shields v Kelsey DeSantis
Featherweight: Abdullah Al Qahtani v Edukondal Rao
Amateur Flyweight: Malik Basahel v Vinicius Pereira
Central Bank's push for a robust financial infrastructure
- CBDC real-value pilot held with three partner institutions
- Preparing buy now, pay later regulations
- Preparing for the 2023 launch of the domestic card initiative
- Phase one of the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FiT) completed
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25
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Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
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Company name: Alaan
Started: 2021
Based: Dubai
Founders: Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien
Sector: FinTech
Investment stage: $7 million raised in total — $2.5 million in a seed round and $4.5 million in a pre-series A round
Company profile
Company name: Letswork
Started: 2018
Based: Dubai
Founders: Omar Almheiri, Hamza Khan
Sector: co-working spaces
Investment stage: $2.1 million in a seed round with investors including 500 Global, The Space, DTEC Ventures and other angel investors
Number of employees: about 20
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kinetic 7
Started: 2018
Founder: Rick Parish
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Industry: Clean cooking
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Self-funded
