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Al Ain, Al Dhafra register wins in AGL

Al Ain - Al Dhafra cruised to a 2-1 victory over visitors Fujairah at the Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium in the eastern region.

Defending champions Al Ain extended their lead over the Arabian Gulf League with a narrow 1-0 win over fighting Dibba in the 18th round of the championship at the Fujairah Stadium on Friday.
Defender Ismail Ahmed fired home the all-important goal of the fast-paced clash in the dying minutes. With this result, Al Ain extended their lead to five points over runners-up Al Ahli before their crucial away tie against Sharjah on Saturday.
Hosts Dibba maintained their 8th position with 21 points but they are still in the dangerous zone and face a threat of being relegated to the lower level.
However, it was an exciting win by all means. And while the two sides were believed to be going for a goalless draw, Al Ain defender Ismail Ahmed who has advanced forward to lend a hand to the strikers, was only lucky to receive a long pass and the brilliant libro spared no effort to break the deadlock with a lovely shot and claim the full points for his side.
"We have been trying hard to secure an early advantage knowing that our opponents are not easy to conquer, but all our efforts were in vain. I think it was a matter of good luck to score because normally I score from corner strikes. I'm glad that I made the fans happy," he said.
Meanwhile, Al Dhafra cruised to a 2-1 victory over visitors Fujairah at the Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium in the eastern region. Al Dhafra raised their tally to 17 points but they still need to improve to reach the safe waters as Fujairah are in 10th spot with 19 points.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 34th minute as Ahmed Ali's whipped corner kick delivery was nodded in at the back post by young defender Abdulrahman Yousuf, and Patrick Eze made it 1-1 two minutes before the final whistle of the first half. Reduced to 10 men in the 83rd minute when Ibraheim Alalawi was shown his second yellow card of the game, Fujairah were at a numerical disadvantage for the closing stages of the game, and Al Dhafra exploited it to snatch a winning goal in the 89th minute.
Adil Hermach was the provider with a pinpoint right-footed cross, and captain Makhete Diop played his target-man role by powering a header into the back of Mohammad Salem's net to make it 2-1 for an invaluable victory.