Al Ahli dent Nasr hopes

Al Ahli's Moussa Sow attempts an acrobatic shot at goal as Al Nasr's Mahmoud Khamis (left) looks on during their Arabian Gulf Cup match at Rashid Stadium on Saturday.

Al Nasr's hopes of retaining the Arabian Gulf Cup (AGC) took a major dent with this 2-0 defeat to Al Ahli at Rashid Stadium here.
Lima gave the Red Knights the lead just prior to half-time on Saturday night with a glancing, near-post header from Humaid Abbas' corner and the Brazilian striker doubled the advantage three minutes after the restart.
Everton Ribeiro and Hassan Abdulrahman combined with some neat interplay for the latter to pick out Lima on the edge of Nasr's penalty area and the former Benfica forward did the rest; peeling off into a pocket of space to drill a bouncing, skiddy finish past goalkeeper Abdulla Mohamed Ismail.
The visitors rallied thereafter, but they simply couldn't reduce the arrears despite the best efforts of Nilmar, Jires Kembo-Ekoko and the former Ahli midfielder Luis Jimenez. This result punctured the Blue Wave's unbeaten start to this cup competition and left them trailing Cosmin Olaroiu's men and Al Wasl by three points in Group A with four pool-phase games still left to play.
Ahli and the Cheetahs are the only sides yet to taste defeat in this seven-strong league ladder of the AGC.
If that wasn't troubling enough for Nasr boss Ivan Jovanovic, Emirates Club and Al Dhafra are a solitary point behind his side in fourth and fifth respectively and both have a fixture in hand having played only twice thus far.
With Nasr in danger of being drawn into a serious scrap for semi-final qualification, a lot will depend on the outcome of the fourth-round outings early next month.
Nasr host the Western Knights in what represents a clear chance to put more daylight between the two teams, whereas Emirates Club and Ahli visit strugglers Al Shaab and Bani Yas respectively.
A week later, Nasr travel to the Falcons, Dhafra entertain the Sky Blues and - crucially - Ahli and Wasl lock horns in another Dubai derby.
It's not exactly inconceivable then that Nasr could steer themselves back into the last-four shake-up with two positive results, especially as Ahli, Wasl or both of them will invariably drop precious points in game week five.
In the meantime though, it's Ahli who share the summit with Wasl and this comfortable success and clean sheet will be a timely fillip ahead of the second leg of their Asian Champions League (ACL) semi-final with Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal next Tuesday evening (Kick-off: 7:45pm). Ahli have one more domestic runout prior to that continental clash as they play Sharjah in the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) on Thursday (Kick-off: 5:05pm). Leaders Nasr meanwhile face Al Wahda at Al Maktoum Stadium two days later (Saturday, 8pm).
alex@khaleejtimes.com