Emirates Club gave themselves a huge boost in their bid to avoid relegation by securing an impressive victory away at Baniyas.
The visitors fought back from a goal down to clinch a 3-2 win at the Baniyas Stadium on Friday night to move above Al Dhafra to 10th in the Arabian Gulf League table. Brazilian forward Alexandro scored twice, including a spot kick, and compatriot Luis Henrique added a third for Emirates, and Joan Verdu was on target twice for the hosts, the second a penalty, and could've had a treble were it not for an earlier missed penalty. "Our first objective is to try to get further away from the danger zone, and the three points from this away game has certainly helped us," Emirates coach Paulo Comelli said. "Now we want to consolidate our position. "It was a very windy day and that made it difficult for our players. But the good thing is that we managed to win and this result was very important for us." Luis Garcia, the Baniyas coach, said his team were punished for missing too many chances. "We had several players absent because of injuries yet we played a decent game," said the Spaniard. "I have given the players a three-day break and hopefully they can return to work fully re-charged and fully-focused for our next match against Sharjah [on March 7]." Baniyas opened the scoring when Verdu dived low to head a cross from Bandar Al Ahbabi for a seventh minute lead, but it was short lived as Alexandro headed the equaliser off a cross from Luiz Henrique two minutes later. Baniyas could have regained the lead on the 15th minute, but Verdu's spot kick was saved by the Emirates goalkeeper Ahmed Al Shaji after Al Ahbabi had earned a penalty with minimum contact from the Emirates defender Mubarak Saeed's tackle. Five minutes later it was the visitor's turn and they didn't waste the opportunity with Alexandro bang on target with the spot kick, which he re-took after the first was ruled out. They earned the spot kick when Jamal Ibrahim was brought down by a clumsy tackle from Abdulsalam Mohammed. Henrique consolidated the lead for the visitors on the hour, the Brazilian firing a short cross from Ibrahim from top of the box. Verdu closed the gap with a second spot kick six minutes left but Emirates held off the hosts to collect the three points. The closest Baniyas came for an equaliser was in added time when Argentine Denis Stracqualursi, who arrived as a second half substitute, hit the crossbar from inside the area.
LIMA HELPS AL WASL SHARE THE SPOILS WITH AL NASR
Late drama at the Zabeel Stadium left the spoils shared as Al Wasl and Al Nasr drew 2-2 in their Dubai derby on Friday.
A scoreless first half passed largely without incident, save for an ankle injury to Nasr right-back Ahmed Ibrahim, but Wasl’s Fabio Lima and Nasr’s Ibrahima Toure each struck twice in the second half.
Toure appeared to have snatched victory with his 89th-minute strike, only for an unmarked Lima to head in the equaliser in stoppage time.
On Saturday, Al Jazira will look to put their Asian Champions League (ACL) disappointment behind them as they host Al Dhafra in the capital.
Jazira lost 2-1 to Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan in midweek in their ACL play-off, but they have the chance to move three points clear of Al Ain at the top of the AGL table.
Al Ain’s surprise 1-0 loss at Fujairah on Thursday has allowed Jazira to open up a gap on their rivals and coach Eric Gerets’s side will be lifted by the return of top scorer Mirko Vucinic.
The Montenegro international had missed the trip to Uzbekistan because of fatigue, but he has recovered to ensure he will be upfront today.
Jazira’s city rivals Al Wahda also saw their hopes of reaching the ACL group stages dashed on Tuesday after losing to Qatari side Al Sadd on penalties after a 4-4 draw. Wahda, who are third, four points behind Jazira, travel to Sharjah.
Saturday’s other game sees fourth-placed Al Shabab entertain bottom-side Kalba.
- The National staff
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