Asprilla breaks Dhafra hearts

Dubai - Colombian nets winner for Al Ain in injury time; Al Nasr rally past Emirates

 New Al Ain signing Danilo Asprilla, of Colombia, hit a injury-time winner to down Al Dhafra 2-1 in Round 14 of the Arabian Gulf League, extending the League leaders' advantage at the top of the table with a total of 37 points so far this season.
Al Dhafra remain in trouble, sitting second from bottom of the table with just 12 points despite another strong and spirited performance, which looked to be earning them a point until the stoppage-time winning goal.
It was former Al Ain goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan who thwarted his old club on several occasions during a goalless first half, preventing Lee Myung Joo and Emmanuel Emenike from breaking the deadlock. New Al Dhafra signing Omar Khribin forced a save from Khalid Essa with a curling free kick just before the break, and moments later the UAE goalkeeper was called upon to make another reflex save to deny Makhete Diop's goal-bound header.
Into the second half it was the table-toppers who opened the scoring; Ibrahim Diaky netting to make it 1-0 in the 52nd minute. Not allowing themselves to crumble, Al Dhafra fought back with an equaliser just five minutes later as new signing Omar Khribin marked his debut with a 57th-minute deflected goal from just outside the area. But in the final minute of injury time Asprilla broke Al Dhafra's hearts with a terrific individual goal to mark his debut, coming on as a substitute in the 66th minute to hit the winner in the 93rd minute.
Al Wasl and Al Jazira fought out a 2-2 draw in Dubai.
In another Arabian Gulf League match Al Nasr fought back from two goals down to beat Emirates 3-2 and move onto 28 points in 3rd position in the table.
Mohammad Malalla and Waleed Ambar had given the hosts a comfortable half-time lead in Ras Al Khaimah, but Jires Kembo-Ekoko, Salem Saleh and Jonathan Pitroipa turned the game around in the second half to condemn Emirates to their seventh successive defeat.
After just five minutes Emirates fired themselves in front as Wilmar Jordan skipped past Amer Mubarak and Mahmoud Khamis to set up Mohammad Malalla, who struck low into the bottom corner beyond young Al Nasr goalkeeper Abdulla Mohamed Ismail, starting in place of the injured Ahmad Shambieh.
The rookie 'keeper had to make a smart save two minutes later to deny Wilmar Jordan as Emirates made a lively start to the game, and by the 25th minute the hosts had doubled their lead to 2-0 as an unmarked Waleed Ambar thrashed a strike into the back of the net from Rodrigo Pimpao's cross.
In the 35th minute a marauding run from Al Nasr left-back Mahmoud Khamis saw him skip over the goalkeeper but put his effort woefully wide, as the visitors were otherwise restricted to pot-shots from distance, and Jonathan Pitroipa snatched an effort over the crossbar after a good cross from Ahmed Ibrahim.
Attempting to get back into the game after the interval, a long-range free kick from Jires Kembo-Ekoko dipped just over the crossbar, but in the 67th minute it was Kembo-Ekoko who pulled Al Nasr back into the game with a splendid strike from distance to cut the deficit to 2-1.
A double substitution was immediately made by the visitors, Hussain Abbas Juma coming on for the injured Khalid Jalal, and attack-minded Salem Saleh replacing defensive midfielder Amer Mubarak, and it was the latter who made an instant impact, scoring just 3 minutes after coming on with a composed finish after racing through on goal to level proceedings at 2-2 in the 70th minute.
Three minutes later Abdulla Mohamed Ismail had to make a flying save to tip Waleed Ambar's thunderous strike from distance over the crossbar as Emirates tried to knock the wind out of Al Nasr's sails, but in the 84th minute the visitors completed the turnaround as Jires Kembo-Ekoko squared for Jonathan Pitroipa to turn the ball past Ali Saqr and make it 3-2 with the winning goal.