Lima's winner sinks Al Nasr

Dubai - The game was played at a high tempo with end-to-end attacks

Al Maktoum Stadium on Thursday night witnessed the clash of the champions versus the challenger. And Al Ahli prevailed.
Rodrigo Lima scored the solitary first-half goal of the Arabian Gulf League match to down Al Nasr. The win will be sweeter for head coach Cosmin Olaroiu as it's an away win against a strong unit.
The game was played at a high tempo with end-to-end attacks. Both keepers - Ahmed Shambih of Al Nasr and Majed Naser of Al Ahli - were kept busy. 
The battle opened with early attacks from the defending champions. Brazilian forward Lima was in the mix of things and should have converted through his header from Everton Ribeiro's cross. He connected but could only find Shambih.
And the goal came through Ahmed Khalil's perfect pass. In the 25th minute, Khalil ran the right line to draw two defenders out and slide in a pass that Lima safely deposited into the back of the net. 
It was a textbook goal and Olaroiu's boardroom talks seem to have come good on the field.
The Blues too had their moments when midfielder Jires Kembo Ekoko tested Naser with a long-ranger.
The second half saw Al Nasr desperately searching for an equaliser. Coach Ivan Jovanovic's message was loud and clear - attack. Salem Saleh too was added to strike force. But this wasn't meant to be their night. Adding to their woes, Masoud Sulaiman collected his second yellow to be packed off in the 67th minute. And in the dying minutes, Al Ahli gave up the one-man advantage as Abdulaziz Haikal too collected a second yellow and was off.
Meanwhile, attacks kept flowing from Al Nasr, but they failed to find an equaliser.