Al Nasr claimed bragging rights against local rivals Al Wasl this season as Ibrahima Toure’s double helped secure a hard-fought 2-1 win at Zabeel Stadium.
Nasr started the brighter, and took an early lead when Toure finished calmly after a flowing move involving Leo Lima, Habib Fardan and Brett Holman.
Ivan Jovanovic’s side doubled their lead soon after when Toure raced on to Fardan’s sharp pass, and kept his composure again to slot past Rashed Ali.
The scoring was not done in a breathless first half, however, as Wasl gained hope when Ricardo Oliveira showed his class to deftly chip over advancing goalkeeper Ahmad Shambieh.
The game turned into a feisty affair after the interval as Wasl tried to level the contest.
Mohamed Naser came closest to securing a draw as his header bounced back off the near post on the 70-minute mark but Nasr were able to hold on, despite the dismissal of their coach with five minutes remaining as tempers boiled over.
Elsewhere, Dubai’s hopes of staying up were boosted as they shared a 1-1 draw with Ajman.
The hosts looked set to continue their upturn in form when they went ahead through Simon Feindouno’s 28th-minute strike but Dubai refused to give up, and their efforts were rewarded at the death as Gilles Yapi-Yapo secured a valuable point for the strugglers.
Al Shaab remain in deep trouble at the bottom of the table after theysuffered their 17th defeat of the season with a 2-1 loss against Al Dhafra.
The match burst into life after a goalless first half when Abdulla Al Jaberi put Dhafra instantly ahead.
The hosts’ top scorer, Makhete Diop, helped himself to his 17th strike of the season soon after.
Shaab finally managed to get on the scoresheet with five minutes remaining through Michael Laurent N’dri but it was too little, too late for the visitors as they failed to avoid yet another damaging defeat.
