Al Nasr 2-0 Al Jazira
NAS: Mubarak 62’, Pitroipa 90’
Man of the match – Khalifa Mubarak (Al Nasr)
DUBAI // Al Jazira relinquished their unbeaten record in this season's Arabian Gulf League record on Saturday night at Al Maktoum Stadium and, with it, the chance to open a three-point lead at the top of the table.
The Abu Dhabi club, the season's early pacesetters, were never really at the races against a stuttering Al Nasr, who scored from their first attempt on target and then their third.
Khalifa Mubarak got the opening goal, the Nasr defender rising high above Fares Juma to head home just after the hour following Ali Mabkhout’s failure to clear a corner. The UAE striker has been in red-hot form this campaign, in goals accrued at least, but here he nonchalantly flicked at Mahmoud Khamis’ set-piece when he should have reacted better.
Substitute Jonathan Pitroipa then struck in injury time – a routine finish with only Ali Kasheif to beat – to make safe the result and heap more misery on his former club.
All said and done, the match had been a pretty turgid affair, although initially Jazira did look the more likely to score. You would not have known it, but they came into the game perched proudly at the league's summit, level on points with second-placed Al Wasl.
Yet, just as the Dubai side had done the previous evening against Al Shabab, they struggled to seize a golden opportunity to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.
To tell the truth, it rather fitted with Round 12: the table's top three teams – Al Ahli the other – were each not able to triumph, with Al Ain and Al Wahda, placed fourth and fifth at the beginning of the weekend, profiting most.
There were net gains for Nasr, too. Dan Petrescu’s men have now won five of seven league matches since his appointment in October and with the latest victory climbed to eighth in the standings. More pertinently, they sit three points outside the top four.
Jazira, though, will look to the match as one they should have won, even with Salem Rashid sent off late on for a second booking.
Their early-season burst from the blocks has finally been checked.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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