Sports | Monday 13 February, 2017 3:16 am |

The third week of the nation’s official Academy League, the du UAE FA Academy League (du UAE FAAL) kicked off with an exciting match between Al Jazira Club and PSG Academy with both teams fighting to move up the league table, after losing the matches they each played last week.

Just fourteen minutes into the match, Hugo Loureau from PSG opened the scoring as he raced through the right channel, leaving Al Jazira defenders fearing how the move might end. Hugo’s powerful shot hit the top left-hand corner of the goal giving PSG a 1-0 advantage.   Abdullah Alhamadi from Al Jazira came back with an impressive goal at minute 24 of the first half, going head to head with PSG’s goalkeeper Angelo Vitale. The second half saw impressive play from both Al Jazira and PSG who scored one goal each to end the game with a tie at 2-2.

EFF met Emirati Legends for their first match of the season and proved their team’s might just 8 minutes into the match, setting up smart play and finishing with 4 goals in the first half.  They maintained their lead through the second half to clutch a 5-0 win.

Over in Dubai, Al Ahli Club kicked off its match against E-sport with a strong advantage, having secured 3 points from their FAAL Week 2 matches.  However, E-sports took to the pitch full of focus, concentrating on regaining their position after their defeat against Al Ain Club last week.  They opened the score line at the 9th minute with a powerful goal scored by Jack Mann and maintained the lead with a 3-1 win, playing a high-energy match until the final whistle.

In their face-off, du LaLiga HPC team dominated TFA with a high intensity game and a display of exceptional teamwork, playmaking skills passes and speed that led them to the top of the FAAL league table standings. After a series of spectacular blocks from their goalkeeper during the first 15 minutes of the match, TFA conceded their first goal to du LaLiga HPC in the 16th minute with a goal by Mohammed Rajeh. Ten minutes later, TFA was hit with a red card, leading them to play the rest of the match with a man down.

Guided by their LaLiga coach Rafael Sanchez, the du LaLiga HPC players continued working as a solid unit with midfielder Ahmad Salam scoring two goals and 6 of his teammates scoring a goal each. Ahmed Arif took home man of the match, which ended with an 8- 1 win for du LaLiga HPC.

Next week’s most anticipated matches will be played between League table leaders du LaLiga HPC and EFF from Abu Dhabi who finished their match in great form, and the undefeated teams Al Ain Club who meet Abu Dhabi Elite.

For results visit www.uaefaal.ae