Al Shabab's Adel Abdullah Abbas, left, controls the ball under pressure from Mohammed Salim of Al Dhafra.
Al Shabab's Adel Abdullah Abbas, left, controls the ball under pressure from Mohammed Salim of Al Dhafra.

Al Ain restore pride without Valdivia



Second half goals from Moroccan Soufiane Alloudi and Senegalese Sanogor gave Al Ain a face-saving 2-0 away win over promoted Al Khaleej. The result salvaged some pride for the nine times league champions who were held to a scoreless result by Al Dhafra after an impressive start after a 4-0 thrashing of Sharjah in the opening match of the pro League.

Last night's result took Al Ain's tally to seven points and leaves Khaleej with three defeats in as many games. It took Al Ain an entire half before breaking the gritty Khaleej defence and returning with full points to keep them at the top flight after three games. It was one they wanted to win and the result will surely keep their hopes high. Alloude gave them the lead three minutes after the break and the young Senegalese playing in his first match doubled the lead 10 minutes later. Sanogor was standing in for Ain's expensive Chilean playmaker Jorge Valdivia, who missed the Dhafra match with injury and last night flew to South America to join up with the national team squad for their latest World Cup qualifier.

Ajman stunned Al Shaab 2-1 at home to collect their first points in the Etisalat Pro League. Iranians Javad Kazemian and Ali Samra put the promoted club 2-0 ahead at the break and Shaab's Mohammed Kallon closed the gap just after the hour mark. The result leaves Shaab in further trouble with no points from three games.

@Email:sports@thenational.ae


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