AGL: Omar Abdulrahman free-kick stuns Wahda to send Al Ain top once more

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  • Marksman: Tagliabue.

    Al Ain superstar Omar Abdulrahman rose from the bench to strike a devilish free-kick which gained Abu Dhabi pride at Al Wahda’s expense and sent the champions back to the top of the Arabian Gulf League.

    Abdulrahman, 24, caused the partisan Hazza bin Zayed Stadium crowd to erupt as his 25-yard setpiece bamboozled goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani. The 2-1 victory was also the perfect tonic for last weekend’s shock 3-2 loss at Sharjah, which the UAE playmaker missed through injury.

    The Boss had come into the derby a point behind Al Ahli thanks to their earlier 1-0 win against Al Wasl, secured through Abdulrahman’s UAE team-mate Ahmed Khalil’s similarly-ferocious free-kick.

    The sides are now separated by two points with nine fixtures left to play. Al Ain fell behind just before the break, top-flight leading-scorer Sebastian Tagliabue bursting past Mohanad Salem to fire home his 16th goal in 2015/16.

    The hosts responded strongly after the break and were level by 58 minutes, soon after a Fellipe Bastos dead-ball had rattled the post. January buy Douglas was picked out by Salem, a sharp touch and rifled finish going straight into the top corner for the striker’s second goal in purple.

    The stage was then set for Abdulrahman to shine, wrong footing Al Hosani with a dipping shot which rocketed in to spark celebrations. This goal stopped 2013/14 winners Ahli from ending the round in first spot, after they claimed a narrow victory in a derby of their own.

    A tight match was setlled in the 39th minute as Khalil dusted himself off from an Abdulla Al Juneibi foul to smash in off the underside of the crossbar in front of a packed Rashid Stadium. This was the 2015 Asian Player of the Year’s fifth goal in 17 AGL appearances this term.

    More should have followed from his team-mates, with €17 million (Dh81m) record-buy Moussa Sow guilty of two glaring one-on-one misses.

    They were almost punished with 10 minutes left by the AFC Champions League chasers, Caio Canedo’s snap shot from their only chance being saved by Majed Nasser prior to centre-back Salmeen Khamis’ brave clearance.

    At the other end of the table, Emirates Club’s revival has continued after new boy Alassane Diallo’s double saw them triumph 3-1 at mid-table Fujairah. The Falcons snapped a ninematch losing streak last time out at bottom-placed Al Shaab and came through a much-sterner test last night.

    Winger Mohammad Malalla got them off to a flying start, dinking over goalkeeper Mohammad Salem in the fourth minute. Nigerian striker Patrick Eze struck from close range to level, before Paulo Comelli’s men went back ahead in the 50th minute through Diallo’s penalty.

    The Senegalese striker then made the points secure with his third goal in three matches, rounding Salem to put his club five-points clear of the drop zone.

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