Karimi-less Al-Ahly inflicted home defeat as the Reds boot out of title race

MiddleeastFootball.com DUBAI, March 30 - Injured Iranian international forward Ali Karimi was sorely missed by title challengers Al-Ahly who were handed a 3-1 home defeat by defending champs Al-Wahda, in one of the most entertaining matches played for the count of the 14th Week.

Mohamed Salem Al-Enazi of Qatar was the winners' hero, claiming his second personal hat-trick in six days after 32, 81 and 90 minutes, respectively, following last Sunday's hat trick during the 6-1 thrashing of Al-Khaleej.

Despite the solid victory away from home, Al-Wahda slipped to the second spot on the table standings on goal-difference behind Al-Jazira who routed Bani Yas 6-0, including two goals apiece by Liberian striking duo George Weah and James Deba.

Both co-leaders are now boasting 28 points each, with Al-Jazira having one game in hand.

FA Cup winners Al-Ain squandered two precious points following their 2-2 draw at home to third-placed Al-Sha'ab. Nigerian new recruit Moses Arthur netted twice for the home side after 1 and 55 minutes, with international sweeper Abdulrahman Ibrahim and Saeed Youssouf rallying back their side on level terms after 25 and 60 minutes, respectively.

Chilean centre-forward Christian Montecinos claimed 2 goals for Al-Wasl after 29 and 55 minutes at home to relegation-bound Al-Khaleej, but that wasn't enough as the outsiders came from behind to share the spoils at 2-2, thanks to respective strikes from Mohamed Malallah and Joseph Serlo in the 75th and 87th minutes, respectively.

Mighty Al-Shabab of Dubai, facing the relegation process for the first time in 17 years, have suffered another defeat, going down 1-0 away to minnows Al-Ittihad for whom Senegalese marksman Timba headed home the winner, four minutes after the interval.

Sharjah kissed goodbye their title hopes after being held to a 2-2 draw by Al-Nasr in a volatile game seeing the man-in-black distributing the Yellow Card on 10 occasions.

Visitors Al-Nasr were impressive during the first 45 minutes, sending their hosts trailing 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Maher Al-Kenzari 8 and Youssouf Moussa 35, with Sharjah coming quite strong after the restart with two strikes from Saeed Al-Kas 54 and Abdulaziz Al-Anbari 74, respectively.

· Al-Jazira – Bani Yas: 6-0. George Weah (15’; 68’), Hussein Soheil (38’), James Deba (37’; 77’), Mohamed Rashed (48’ og).

· Al-Ahly – Al-Wahda: 1-3. Faysal Khalil (34’).///// Mohamed Salem Al-Enazi (32’; 81’; 90’).

· Al-Ittihad – Al-Shabab: 1-0. Timba (49’).

· Sharjah – Al-Nasr: 2-2. Saeed Al-Kas (54’), Abdulaziz Al-Anbari (74’).///// Maher Al-Kenzari (8’), Youssouf Moussa (35’).

· Al-Ain – Al-Sha’ab: 2-2. Moses Arthur (1’; 55’).///// Abdulrahman Ibrahim (25’), Saeed Youssouf (60’).

· Al-Wasl – Al-Khaleej: 2-2. Christian Montecinos (29’; 55’).///// Mohamed Malallah (75’), Joseph Serlo (87’).

Club Pl W D L Gf Ga Pts

1. Al-Jazira 13 9 1 3 36 18 28

2. Al-Wahda 14 8 4 2 39 24 28

3. Al-Sha’ab 13 5 7 1 26 14 22

4. Al-Wasl 14 5 7 2 28 20 22

5. Al-Ain 12 6 3 3 20 13 21

6. Sharjah 13 5 5 3 28 23 20

7. Al-Ahly 14 5 3 6 28 25 18

8. Al-Nasr 14 3 7 4 27 28 16

9. Al-Ittihad 13 4 2 7 16 21 14

10.Bani Yas 14 3 2 9 13 40 11

11.Al-Shabab 12 2 4 6 15 19 10

12.Al-Khaleej 14 0 5 9 17 47 5

Top Scorers:

1. Mohamed Salem Al-Enazi (Al-Wahda)………………….18 goals.

2. Razzaq Farhan (Sharjah)………………………………….13 goals.

George Weah (Al-Jazira)………………………………….13 goals.

Christian Montecinos (Al-Wasl)………….………...13 goals.

3. Farhad Majidi (Al-Wasl)………………………………….10 goals.

James Deba (Al-Jazira)…………………………….….…10 goals.

4. Ali Karimi (Al-Ahly)………………………………………..8 goals.

5. Faysal Khalil (Al-Ahly)………………………….….……7 goals.

Moses Arthur (Al-Ain)……………………………………….7 goals.

6. Sheikh Diop (Al-Sha’ab)…………………………………….6 goals.

Abdulwahhab Abou Al-Heil (Al-Sha’ab)……………….6 goals.

7. Carlos Nilson (Al-Shabab)………………………………..5 goals.

Yasser Salem (Al-Wahda)…………………………….….…5 goals.

Joel Tiehi (Al-Ain)………………………………………….5 goals.

Maher Al-Kenzari (Al-Nasr)……………………………….5 goals.

8. Walid Morad (Al-Nasr)……………………………………….4 goals.

Lamine Conte (Al-Wahda)………………………….…….…4 goals.

Hussein Soheil (Al-Jazira)………………….…….…..4 goals.

Mohamed Hassan (Bani Yas)………………………………..4 goals.

Farid Ghazi (Bani Yas)……………………….….……….4 goals.

10. Adel Mohamed (Al-Ittihad)………………………………..3 goals.

Mirjalal Kassimov (Al-Shabab)………………………….3 goals.

Joseph Pedro (Al-Khaleej)………………………………..3 goals.

Eissa Juma’a (Al-Nasr)……………………………………..3 goals.

Walid Morad (Al-Nasr)……………………………………….3 goals.

Kazem Ali (Al-Nasr)………………………………………….3 goals.

Mohamed Srour (Al-Sha’ab)………………………………..3 goals.

Haydar Alo-Ali (Al-Wahda)……………………………….……….3 goals.

11. Faysal Darwish (Sharjah)………………………………….2 goals.

Paulo Da Silva (Al-Nasr)………………………………….2 goals.

Emmanuel Abedi (Al-Ain)…………………………………..2 goals.

Ali Bagmisheh (Al-Ittihad)……………………………….2 goals.

Fouad Khalil (Al-Ahly)………………………….….…….2 goals.

Shehab Abdullah (Al-Ahly)………………………………..2 goals.

Walid Obaid (Al-Shabab)……………………………….….2 goals.