Al Wasl leapfrog Al Ain in Etisalat Cup Group B

Diego Maradona's Al Wasl moved into pole position to join Al Jazira in the semi-finals of the Etisalat Cup from Group B after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Emirates on Wednesday night. Goals from Hassan Ali and Juan Manuel Olivera proved enough for the Cheetahs, who leapfrogged Al Ain into second spot in the table as The Boss could only managed a 1-1 draw At Dubai Club. Emirates' January recruit Alexander Geynrikh had brief restored parity in their clash with Wasl after Ali had given the visitors a first-half lead. But the hosts, mired in a relegation battle in the league, were not to be level for long as as Olivera, who has become a key man for Wasl in recent weeks after a slow start to life in the UAE, stole in to score the winner just six minutes later (78). Wasl move onto 15 points with one game remaining, one point ahead of Al Ain on 14 after their 1-1 draw with Dubai. The Boss, without UAE's Omar Abdulrahman after his heroics for the UAE Olympic team on Wednesday night, were forced to battle back from an early goal to secure a point. Cosmin Olaroiu, who left top scorer Asomoah Gyan on the bench, watched his side concede in the opening six minutesn as Hassan Mohamed put Dubai ahead. But Al Ain, top of the Pro League and looking on course for a 10th league title, are made of sterner stuff these days and duly equalised through Saudi striker Yasser Al-Qahtani just before the half hour mark. Olaroiu threw on Gyan for the final 20 minutes in search of a winner, but despite late pressure they could find no way through and had to make do with a solitary point. The result leaves Dubai in fourth place on 13 points ahead of the final round of fixtures in Group B which will see Wasl welcome already qualified Al Jazira to the Zabeel Stadium, Al Ain travel to Al Wahda and Dubai host Emirates.