AGL: Al Ain bounce back; Fujairah stun Al Nasr

Al Ain rallied from their defeat to Bani Yas to beat struggling Ajman 2-0 at Rashid bin Saeed Stadium while Fujairah stunned Al Nasr 2-0 at Fujairah Stadium to bolster their hopes of survival in the Arabian Gulf League on Sunday.

Al Jazira squandered the chance to move into the top spot after they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Al Wahda.

Bani Yas ascended to the top of the league after beating Hatta 1-0 at Bani Yas Stadium on Saturday.

Bani Yas took the lead just two minutes before the half-hour mark when Nicolas Gimenez fired a powerful effort into the back of the net to score what turned out to be the winning goal.

Al Ain looked more dangerous in the early phases of the first half, as Yahia Nader came close to breaking the deadlock only seven minutes into play, but his effort hit the bar.

The visitors’ pressure eventually paid off as they opened the scoring on the 15-minute mark when Mohamed Abbas capitalised on a defensive error to tap the ball home and hand the away side a 1-0 lead.

Ajman keeper Ali Mohamed denied Laba Kodjo from netting the second goal off a stunning effort in the 20th minute.

The Boss waited until the 86th minute to seal the win when Laba Kodjo fired a powerful effort from outside the box to put Al Ain 2-0 up.

Al Ain returned to winning ways and earned their 10th victory of the league season. They now have 37 and sit in sixth place, two points below Al Nasr. Meanwhile, Ajman’s misery was compounded as they dropped to 13th place with 11 points following Fujairah’s win over Al Nasr on Sunday.

Mohamed Mustafa gave Fujairah an early lead as he headed the ball home in the 13th minute to hand the hosts a 1-0 advantage into halftime.

Douglas Coutinho connected with Abdulla Nasser’s pass from inside the box, sending an effort into the back of the net to double the home side’s lead just five minutes after the restart.

Fujairah kept a clean sheet for the first time since matchweek 6 when they defeated Hatta 1-0.