Barrada rescues Al Nasr as Maiga stars again for Ajman
dubai — Abdelaziz Barrada saved three-times league champions Al Nasr the blushes with an 87th minute goal against bottom placed Emirates in matchweek 11 of the Arabian Gulf League at the Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Stadium in Al Aweer on Thursday.
After a goalless draw, the Blues started to panic and as the match was heading into a stalemate, Barrada came to their rescue with an all-important goal to lift Al Nasr (17 points) to fourth place and into the top half of the AGL standings, behind Al Wasl (22), Al Ain (22) and Al Wahda (20).
The Blues dominated the proceedings from the start and came close to breaking the deadlock on multiple occasions. Their most dangerous chance of the opening 45 minutes came through when leftback Mahmoud Khamis dribbled down the left flank into Emirates’ box and squared for Jassim Yaqoub who missed narrowly from close.
As the game drew to a close, Abdelaziz Barrada finally opened the scoring from the penalty spot. His strike cannoned off the upright and
Action from the Ajman versus Hatta match. —
came back onto the playing field and it was deemed to have marginally crossed the line, handing the hosts the winner three minutes from time.
Emirates remain rooted to the foot of the table with seven points. Supplied photo
Meanwhile, at the Rashid bin Saeed Stadium, Modibo Maiga continued his rich vein of form, netting a fifth goal in three matches to hand Ajman a late 1-0 win over Hatta.
The Malian was once again the (UAE TIME) Dibba vs Sharjah 4:40pm Al Dhafra vs Al Ain 4:50pm Al Wasl vs Shabab Al Ahli 7:30pm Al Wasl Al Ain Al Wahda Al Nasr Al Jazira Shabab Al Ahli Ajman Dibba Sharjah Hatta Al Dhafra Emirates P W D L F A P 10 6 4 0 21 11 22 10 6 4 0 20 11 22 10 6 2 2 23 920 11 5 2 4 18 13 17 10 4 4 2 16 14 16 10 3 6 1 15 7 15 11 3 3 5 13 17 12 10 2 4 4 10 1610 10 2 3 5 9 15 9 11 2 2 7 17 31 8 10 1 5 4 13 20 8 11 2 1 7 13 24 7 hero for Ayman Al Ramadi’s men as he found space inside Hatta’s penalty box to tap in Adeilson’s squared ball seven minutes from time.
The former Kalba striker has now scored all Ajman’s goals in the past month with braces against Al Wasl and Al Wahda. Incredibly, three of his goals came in the final ten minutes of the match.
The Oranges extended their unbeaten run to three matches as they moved up to 12 points by the end of the first half of the league season.