Ahli made to sweat by Dhafra

Dubai - Lima, Hammadi net for Red Knights in 2-1 win over Western Knights

Dubai giants Al Ahli added three more points to their kitty after a 2-1 victory over visitors Al Dhafra in round three of the Arabian Gulf League, late Monday night.
The Red Knights dominated as expected but not before the Western Knights fought grimly after they restored parity (1-1) following a goalless first half.
Brazilian star Rodrigo Lima headed home from a crisp move that originated on the right flank in the 67th minute (1-0) but the home supporters were stunned when the crafty veteran Abdul Rahim Juma got the yellow and blue clad men on level terms (1-1) in the 71st minute. Al Ahli were not to be denied a full quota of points for the night when Ismail Al Hammadi sent home a shoulder high shot from close distance (2-1) when the visitors faltered with their positional play in the 80th minute.
The sultry conditions seemed to have taken its toll on the players as early as in the first half with Al Ahli fumbling in the fortress area thrice while Dhafra were more content on containing the far more talented and enterprising Reds.
For Al Dhafra this was their third consecutive defeat having lost their first two rounds by identical margins (1-3) to fancied sides Al Ain and Al Nasr.
Al Ahli won their first match 8-1 against newly promoted Fujairah a fortnight ago.
Playmaker Everton Robeiro and Lima weaved patterns around the Dhafra midfield and defenders continuously but the visitors' defenders led by Khalid Butti and first choice goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan, came up with timely interceptions and stops.
One narrow miss was when Al Ahli skipper Ahmed Khalil cleverly lobbed the ball in an attempt to beat the onrushing Sultan in the 22nd minute. Majed Hassan let go of a powerful volley in the 41st minute after Khalil's pile driver from the top of the box missed the target by inches five minutes earlier, as Al Ahli stamped their superiority in the first period.
Dhafra imports David Barral Torres and skipper Makhete Diop injected life into their occasional raids but were contained by the close marking home midfielders and defenders. Overall, Al Ahli keeper Majed Naser had nothing much to do except come out and intercept the crosses meant for the dangerous duo of Torres and Diop.
The second half started with the Red shirts switching operations to the left wing and this ploy seemed to take the Cosmin Olaroiu trained squad deep into enemy territory more often.
Credit goes to Dhafra, coached by Laurent Banide, for holding out against the smooth positional play and short carpet passes of the hosts.
Concentration lapses in the deep defence denied the Dhafra side of at least a draw that seemed a possibility, especially after they found the equaliser.
In the 58th minute for some strange reason Al Hammadi chose to pass from a handshaking distance with only reserve Dhafra goalie Ali to beat. Selfless it was on his part to pass to an unmarked Robeiro but the alert Dhafra defender Khalaf Mohammed darted in from the top left of the penalty area to clear the ball.
The much talked about Moosa Sow made his debut for Al Ahli late in the second half as a substitute but could not make much impression on the Dhafra defence.
The result places Al Ahli who finished seventh last season in fourth place with six points, behind league leaders and defending champions Al Ain and former champs Al Nasr (nine points each).