The Blue Wave lose ground in race for title; Dibba draw with Bani Yas

Dubai - The result means Al Nasr lose ground in the title race but stay third now with 29 points, while Al Dhafra stay in the bottom two despite moving onto 13 points.

 Relegation-threatened Al Dhafra scored a late equaliser to hold 10-man Al Nasr to a 1-1 draw in Round 15 of the Arabian Gulf League that was played at the Maktoum Stadium on Friday.
Suffering a red card early on, Al Nasr had taken the lead through a Jires Kembo-Ekoko penalty, but Makhete Diop headed a late equaliser to earn a point for the visitors.
The result means Al Nasr lose ground in the title race but stay third now with 29 points, while Al Dhafra stay in the bottom two despite moving onto 13 points.
In just the 21st minute the hosts were reduced to 10 men as Amer Mubarak received his second yellow card for two fouls in the space of four minutes, leaving Al Nasr to play at least 70 minutes a man down. But twenty minutes later the referee pointed to the spot to award Al Nasr a penalty after Al Dhafra's new signing Issam El Adoua hacked down Jonathan Pitroipa in the area, and Jires Kembo-Ekoko stepped up to convert with aplomb, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.
Immediately after going a goal up, the hosts had to defend heroically to prevent an instant equaliser as young goalkeeper Abdulla Mohamed Ismail and Esam Dhahi blocked well to keep Al Dhafra out.
Al Nasr were forced into a half-time change as goal scorer Jires Kembo-Ekoko was withdrawn due to injury, with Salem Saleh coming on in his place, and it was the substitute who forced a fine save from Abdulla Sultan just before the hour mark to tip his effort round the far post for a corner.
By the 70th minute Al Dhafra made a double substitution bringing on Hamad Alahbabi and Bader Al Harthi in place of Ibrahim Saeed and Abdulrahim Jumaa, whilst three minutes later Al Nasr made a more defensive-minded change to try and protect their lead.
In the 80th minute a promising attacking move saw Salem Saleh stream away down the left and square for the onrushing Pitroipa, who had set the counter-attack off with a well-timed pass, but the Burkina Faso international couldn't get to the ball ahead of a determined Al Dhafra defence and the opportunity to double the lead was lost. In the 86th minute Al Dhafra's determination paid off as the visitors finally netted an equaliser; captain Makhete Diop rising highest in the area to head home after great work from Ahmed Ali to beat Tariq Ahmed and cross for the Senegalese striker to earn an invaluable away point for the second-from-bottom side.
Meanwhile, Dibba fought back from a goal down to earn a gritty 1-1 draw at home to Bani Yas with neither side making any headway in the table.