Al Nasr down Bani Yas, move to third

Dubai - Jimenez fires brace as the Blue Wave win 5-2, in a a match where both teams were reduced to 10 men

 
Al Nasr 5
(Goals: Luis Antonio Jimenez 9, 18, Nilmar 42, Mahmoud Khamis 83, Ahmed Khameis Rabei 88. Yellow cards: Jassim Yaqoob 37, Masoud Sulaiman Ahmed 49, Jires Kembo-Ekoko 60, Ahmed Shambih 72, Esam Dhahi 75. Red card: Masoud Sulaiman Ahmed 57)
Bani Yas 2
(Goals: Ishak Belfodil 60, Amer Abdulrahman 90+3). Yellow cards: Amer Abdulrahman 35, Mohamed Jaber 79. Red card: Bandar Al Ahbabi 82)
 
Emirates 2
(Goals: Alasani Diallo 12, Brett Holman 68)
Dibba 0
(Yellow cards: Abdulla Naser 43, Sanad Ali 90, Bilal Najjaren 90. Red card: Abdulla Naser 81)
 
Luis Antonio Jimenez fired a brace as Al Nasr leapt from fifth to third with a 5-2 victory over Bani Yas in the Arabian Gulf League.
The former Al Ahli man scored on nine and 18 minutes, while Nilmar added the third with three minutes left in the first half. Mahmoud Khamis then scored from the spot on 83 minutes and substitute Ahmed Khameis Rabei rounded it off with the fifth, two minutes from time, at the Al Maktoum Stadium on Friday night.
Algerian international Ishak Belfodil pulled one back for the Sky Blues from a penalty, on the hour after which Amer Abdulrahman added a second in stoppage time.
Al Nasr were down to 10 men a large part of the second half after Masoud Sulaiman Ahmed was sent off following a second booking, while Bani Yas played out the remaining eight minutes with 10 men after Bandar Al Ahbabi was given marching orders for hacking into Jimenez.
The Blue Wave's 10th victory and their fifth at home, gave them 37 points as they moved from fifth spot to third on the table, ahead of Al Wahda and Al Wasl.
Al Wahda, who had held third spot, are on the road to the Western Region to face Al Dhafrah, while Al Wasl are at home to Al Sharjah at the Zabeel Stadium, on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, it was Bani Yas' eighth defeat this term and their sixth on the road. The Sky Blues remain on eighth with 29 points.
Elsewhere, in Ras Al Khaimah, Emirates moved further away from the danger zone with a 2-0 win over Dibba at the Emirates Club Stadium.
Alasani Diallo had given Emirates the lead on 12 minutes after which former Al Nasr man Brett Holman got the second on 68 minutes.
Emirates moved a spot to 11th with 26 points, while Dibba stay ninth with 28 points.
Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic said that his side played a good game and urged them to continue in the same vein with three more fixtures left in the League.
"I believe that we played a wonderful game. We got key goals in the first half and had many chances. We had good pace with 11 players and we maintained that with 10 players," Jovanovic said after the game.
"We must continue to play like this. We have very important games in the League and important games in the AFC Champions League. If we keep continuing this performance, we will have good results at the end of the season. We are missing some players but we will try to find solutions for it. At the end of the season, we have consecutive games and I would like to have all the players," he added.
The Serbian said that his key targets were to finish third the Arabian Gulf League and also progress to the next stage of the AFC Champions League.
"My target is to get third position in the League and progress in the AFC Champions League. Of course, it will not be easy but it will be fantastic if we achieve it," said the 53-year-old.
Meanwhile, Bani Yas coach Abdulla Misfir said they didn't deserve to lose the game in such a manner. "We didn't deserve to lose 5-2. We lost the game at the beginning because the freekick changed the game completely," said Misfir.
"My players tried to control the game but couldn't. We were missing quite a few players because of injuries. I had to use players in positions they weren't used to. But they still tried to," he added.
Misfir, who took over after Spaniard Luis Garcia was axed, said that their main focus now was on the President's Cup.
"It is not easy to take over at the end of the season because there are so many problems like injuries. I'm trying to solve the problems but it isn't easy. Our main focus now is the President's Cup because we can only move up to fifth, sixth or seventh in the League. So, our concentration is to do something in the President's Cup," the Emirati said.
james@khaleejtimes.com