Al Ain ease past Hatta; Al Nasr rout Al Wahda

Super sub Jamal Maroof scored a brace as Al Ain thrashed Hatta 3-0, at Hamdan Bin Rashed Stadium in matchweek 17 of the Arabian Gulf League on Thursday.

Hatta were the better side in the opening stages of the game, as they wasted a glorious chance to take the lead less than six minutes into the game through Samuel Rosa, whose powerful effort was denied by the woodwork.

The Tornado kept pressing up the pitch and two minutes later they wasted another marvelous chance. Daniel Amora got at the end of a loose ball near the edge of the box following a poor clearance from Al Ain’s defender, but the midfielder’s first time volley hit the post.

Al Ain failed to respond in the first half as both teams failed to create any further threats until the referee blew the halftime whistle.

The Boss managed to break the deadlock in the 50th minute, when Bauyrzhan Islamkhan’s perfectly weighted through pass was met by Bandar Al Ahbabi, who controlled the ball brilliantly before drilling it into the bottom corner.

Super sub Jamal Maroof scored Al Ain’s second of the night in the 68th minute, when he slotted Islamkhan’s ground cross past Darwish bin Habib.

The Boss continued to pile up the pressure and in the dying moments of the game Maroof doubled his tally, when Balazs Dzsudzsak capitalized on a howler from bin Habib before sending the ball to the striker, who finished cleverly from a close range.

Following the win, Al Ain occupy the second spot with 34 points and will host Fujairah on the seventh of March. Meanwhile, Hatta remain 12th with just 12 points ahead of their difficult encounter against Sharjah on March 6 in matchweek 18 of the AGL.

Meanwhile, Kuwas pulled off an impressive performance as Al Nasr defeated Al Wahda 3-0, at Al Maktoum Stadium.

The Blues started off in an electrifying fashion, as they broke the deadlock in the 19th minute through Mohammed Al Akbari. Brandley Kuwas crossed the ball towards Alvaro Negredo, who squared it to Al Akbari, before the latter’s strike nestled into the back of Mohammed Al Shamsi’s net.

Al Wahda kept pushing for the leveler and in the 40th minute, Sebastian Tagliabue’s ground cross was met by Ismael Matar, however, his effort went just wide over the crossbar.

Just one minute ahead of the break, Negredo turned from producer to scorer when he finished Kuwas’ well-placed ground cross past Al Shamsi following a well-built play, to make it 2-0.

Al Nasr continued to dominate when they extended their lead even further in the 51st minute. Toze released Kuwas behind Al Wahda’s backline with a defence-splitting through pass that the winger converted calmly into the far corner.

To rub salt into the wound, Al Wahda were forced to continue the remainder of the match with 10 men as Tahnoon Al Zaabi was shown a red card in the 85th minute.

The win takes Al Nasr to the sixth spot with 27 points before their derby match against Shabab Al Ahli on Mar.7. While, Al Wahda occupy the fourth position with 29 points before hosting Ajman on Mar.6 in matchweek 18 of the Arabian Gulf League.