Al Jazira's Park Jong Woo vies for the ball against Bani Yas' Royston Drenthe (right) during their AGL clash on Saturday at Bani Yas Stadium.
Bani Yas - The Pride of Abu Dhabi were two goals to the good but the Sky Blues scripted a fine rally to remain unbeaten in the Arabian Gulf League.
Published: Mon 26 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM
Updated: Mon 26 Oct 2015, 11:54 AM
It has happened again and it might not be the last. Al Jazira raced to a sizeable lead before squandering it, this time against fellow title contenders Bani Yas.
The Pride of Abu Dhabi were two goals to the good but the Sky Blues scripted a fine rally to remain unbeaten in the Arabian Gulf League.
South Korean Park Jong-woo and last season's top scorer Mirko Vucinic had given Al Jazira a two-goal cushion heading into the break. But Algerian international Ishak Belfodil and Argentine Joaquin Larrivey struck in the second half to end with a point at the Bani Yas Stadium, late on Saturday night.
The draw left Bani Yas stay third in the table with 12 points, while Al Jazira are still languishing mid-table after six fixtures and are placed seventh with eight points.
The Sky Blues have made some astute signings this season and they began well and asked questions through both their eventual goal scorers Belfodil and Larrivey. But the seasoned Al Jazira goalkeeper Ali Khaseif denied the duo, early on.
But it was Al Jazira who broke the deadlock against the run of play through Park on 12 minutes. Emirati ace Ali Ahmed Mabkhout sent it through for Vucinic, who set it up for Park. And the former Guangzhou R&F midfielder slotted it past goalkeeper Mohamed Khalef.
And Al Jazira were two goals up six minutes later after Montenegro international Vucinic tapped home from close range after a low cross from Jefferson Farfan.
Al Jazira could have put the game to bed going into the break but Ali Mabkhout's arrowed his header over the cross bar after a Thiago Neves centre.
It was a frantic start to the second half with Bani Yas pressing hard to nullify Al Jazira's advantage. Fawaz Awana, Larrivey and Yousef Jaber all came close before Belfodil headed home Awana's rebound header following a Mark Milligan effort which was blocked by Ali Khaseif.
Al Jazira hit back with two attempts to try and kill the contest but goalkeeper Adel Abubaker, who had come on at the start of the second half, pulled off brilliant saves to thwart Farfan and Ali Mabkhout. But Bani Yas still had more left in the tank as Larrivey volleyed home from close range after Saif Khalfan had failed to clear Royston Drenthe's cross.
james@khaleejtimes.com