Dibba netted a late equalizer to play out a dramatic 2-2 draw with Al Jazira at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in matchweek 21 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday.
Al Jazira controlled the proceedings in the early stages of the game with Leonardo Pereira’s effort going wide in the ninth minute. Five minutes later, Nacer Barazite had a chance to score the opener but his effort was saved by Abdulla Sultan.
It was Dibba, however, who opened the scoring as Diogo Acosta found the back of the net after 16 minutes. Following a defensive blunder inside the box, the Brazilian forward found the ball before slotting past the Al Jazira keeper to give his side a 1-0 lead.
The Pride of Abu Dhabi pushed to level the scoreline but the defense and goalkeeper were alert as they denied Abdulla Ramadan and Pereira.
Sultan continued to impress as he saved Pereira’s free-kick effort nine minutes after the restart. The Sailors responded an came close to adding the second goal two minutes later, as Yasin Bakhit dribbled past the defenders before his effort hit the woodwork.
Dibba’s search for a second goal continued but they were denied. Mohamed Seif’s header inside the box rebounded off the woodwork as they missed another chance to take the lead.
Against the run of the play, the hosts made a comeback as they netted two quick-fire goals to take the lead in the 68th minute.
A series of passes and an impressive teamwork saw Abdalla Ramadan pass the ball to Nacer Barazite who tapped into the empty net to level the scoreline in the 66th minute.
The Pride of Abu Dhabi needed only two minutes to take the lead. Barazite turned from scorer to provider as he sent an inch-perfect cross to Zayed Alameri who headed home to make it 2-1.
As Al Jazira looked to be headed towards collecting the three points, Dibba made a late comeback to level things up in the 90th minute. Diogo Acosta chested the ball inside the box before dribbling past Al Jazira defenders and tapping home to net his second goal of the game.
Dibba remain at the bottom of the table but now have 12 points, three behind Fujairah and Emirates Club. Al Jazira, however, failed to capitalize on Sharjah’s draw with Al Ain as they remained third on 41 points, 10 behind the King.
In another AGL match on Friday, Ajman and Ittihad Kalba played out a goalless draw at the Ajman Stadium.
The first chance of the game fell to Ajman’s Adel Hermach but his 13th-minute effort was saved by the Kalba keeper Jamal Alsarah.
Kalba tried to respond but they failed to pose enough threat on Ajman’s goal. Four minutes before the break, Kalba had a promising chance to take the lead but Khalid Alshehhi’s powerful effort was saved by the Ajman keeper as they headed into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
Ajman came close to opening the scoring around the one-hour mark but Mame Thiam’s effort went wide.
The Oranges kept pushing forward hoping to find the back of the net, but the Kalba keeper kept the game goalless. An effort from outside the box by Vander Vieira was saved by Ali Mohamed.
Balazs Dzsudzsak had an effort saved in the 67th minute, before Vieira responded for Ajman two minutes later but Ali Mohamed pulled off a save to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0.
Ajman remained the more dangerous side as they threatened the guests’ again through Adel Hermash but his 89th-minute effort went wide. Both sides failed to find the back of the net as game ended in a draw.
Ajman now sit seventh on the league table on 28 points, while Kalba’s winless streak extended as they are 11th on 22 points.
