Al Ahli edge past Dibba

Dubai - Red Knights move joint second alongside Al Nasr

Al Ahli made it five wins in as many Arabian Gulf League (AGL) games with this 2-1 victory over Dibba Al Fujairah to move joint second in the top-flight table here on Saturday night.
Goals from Rodrigo Lima and Ahmed Khalil gave the Red Knights a comfortable cushion and, although Bakary Kone halved it thereafter, the visitors came away from Rashid Stadium empty-handed.
A curling Khalil free-kick brought a decent save out of Humaid Abdulla low down at his near post in the seventh minute.
Dibba duly threatened at the other end, with some neat interplay around the edge of the Ahli penalty box resulting in the ball rolling free to Mohamed Ali. He got a crisp attempt away, but Ahmed 'Dida' Mahmoud thwarted it agilely.
Lima twice came close to breaking the deadlock following a chipped through ball from Everton Ribeiro and, after Tareq Ahmed had toe-punted Dibba's next opportunity harmlessly wide, Ahli's Brazilian striker conjured up the opener. Abdulaziz Haikal found the former Benfica forward and a quick swivel took him away from his marker and afforded him sufficient space to place his finish beyond Abdulla.
Strangely, the gutsy visitors weren't too deterred by falling behind and, if anything, it spurred on their energetic efforts to find the net themselves.
A rasping drive from Dibba captain Faisal Ahmed was tipped over by Mahmoud, who was rooted to the spot when Kone's deflected shot looped up and bounced off the top of the crossbar.
The away team looked more likely to draw level approaching the interval than the home side did of extending their advantage.
But, all of their good work was almost undone with the half-time whistle approaching. Moussa Sow and Khalil almost converted a free-kick and a corner respectively from Ribeiro, who drew a smart stop out of Abdulla thereafter.
Dibba were living dangerously and their perilous plight became even more apparent when Khalil crossed in and Lima just couldn't stretch far enough to divert it home at the far post.
The TV cameras had interspersed the on-field footage with reaction shots of Dibba's German coach Theo Bucker by this stage and his anguished expressions and mannerisms implied he had his work cut out at the midway point.
Having a lead heading into the second period is all important in late-afternoon fixtures as it's harder to chase the game given the exertions already undertaken in the opening 45 minutes.
Dibba definitely took a while to get back into their stride and Ahli seized the initiative in the meantime.
Majed Hassan tested Abdulla with a speculative shot from distance before the Red Knights doubled their cushion 10 minutes after the restart.
Saeed Mohamed blocked from Lima, yet the ball ran free to Khalil and he emphatically buried it past Abdulla.
Ahli pressed for more goals and only a combination of Abdulla's athleticism and the woodwork denied them prior to Kone lashing in a sumptuous, long-range thunderbolt from the blue with 17 minutes left on the clock.
alex@khaleejtimes.com