Story of the match
Al Ain overcame Al Jazira at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium to cement their position at the top of the league, while their opponents tasted a third defeat.
The first 20 minutes saw the match played mostly in Al Jazira’s half even though Al Ain were unable break down their defence.
It was Thiago Neves for the visitors who had a first decent crack at the goal, his fierce but rising shot missing the bar.
The Brazilian was Al Jazira’s best option up front and saw shots blocked by the defenders on three occasions.
The best chance of the half came when Omar Abdulrahman exchanged passes with his brother Mohammed before dragging his left-foot shot wide.
The second half started in explosive fashion when Abdulrahman’s shot tipped over the bar brilliantly by Ali Kasheif.
But the UAE keeper could not prevent the breakthrough in the 53rd minute when Abdulrahman exchanged passes with Lee Myung-joo twice before the South Korean drilled the ball into the roof of the net.
Al Jazira coach Abel Braga attempted to raise their game halfway through the second half by replacing Neves with Ahmad Rabie, a forward for a midfielder, but only succeeded in depriving his attack of their brightest spark up to that point.
Mirko Vucinic also departed, to be replaced by Ahmed Al Attas. Al Jazira managed to put the home team under some pressure thereafter, but they created few clear chances.
Kasheif denied a curling freekick from Fellipe Bastos but could not deny him at the second time of asking in injury time.
Man of the match - Omar Abdulrahman, Al Ain
Wearing the captain’s armband, Abdulrahman was head and shoulders above everyone else.
In a frantic but poor first half, he provided a few moments of individual skill. He continued to dominate the midfield in the second, creating the first goal as well as having several chances himself.
What managers said
Abel Braga, Al Jazira: "The better team won. They have great individuals but also excel in team play. This was clear in the first goal. The part played by the advancing Bastos played in the goal showed that. I don't want to take away from Al Ain, but the second goal was harsh on us."
Zlatko Dalic, Al Ain: "My team played their best game so far this season. We did everything that we prepared for in the meeting and in training. The players showed everything on the field. I'm very happy. Thank you to our fans for their big support."
The National’s verdict
Al Jazira started the match in eighth place and seven points behind Al Ain, and any faint hopes of a title challenge surely disappeared at the home of the champions last night.
In the end, they were well beaten. More worrying for coach Braga was the poor performance of his forward players, with the Montenegrin Mirko Vucinic and the UAE’s Ali Mabkhout barely involved in the action.
For the home team, the night could not have gone any better as they confirmed their superiority at the top of the tables while dismissing last year’s runners up from the race.
It is early days yet, but Al Nasr and Al Ahli – Al Ain’s most obvious challengers for the title– need exceptional seasons if they are to bypass a team getting into their grove.
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
