Oliveira brace takes Pride of Abu Dhabi straight to the top

Al Jazira’s defence of their Etisalat Pro League title started in emphatic style last weekend as two goals from Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira fired them to a convincing 4-0 win over Dubai-based Al Ahli in front of an 11,864-strong crowd at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium.

The away team started strongly but were unable to convert their early pressure and were left ruing some glaring misses as Oliveira opened the scoring with a powerful header from Lucas Neil’s cross just before half-time.
Shortly after the break, Jazira’s record signing grabbed his second goal with a cool finish to double the score before winning a penalty on the hour mark, which captain Ibrahim Diaky converted to make it 3-0. Substitute Bare then put the result beyond doubt as he grabbed Jazira’s fourth with 14 minutes remaining.
Elsewhere in the league, Al Ain also started their campaign off strongly as they cruised to a 2-0 victory at home to Al Nasr.

Asamoah Gyan, on loan from Sunderland in the UK, impressed on his league debut and helped to set up Ismail Ahmed for Al Ain’s first goal after just 13 minutes. Saudi Arabia’s captain Yasser Al-Qahtani then doubled the Garden City side’s lead after half an hour and the home side held on comfortably to take all three points.
Meanwhile, Baniyas came from a goal behind to secure a 1-1 draw away to Ajman thanks to a 30th minute goal from Fawzi Bashir and Al Wahda’s troubles continue as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Al Shabab despite Eisa Ahmed’s early strike.