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Matchday 13 – A review of the league matches

Written by Schumi-

This weekend was the second-last round of league matches. Thisround gave us our last Champion of the Divisions II and also answered many other questions regarding promotion and relegation. However, with just 1 week left, there remain some interesting questionmarks. For example, who will become best-of-the-rest next to Azad? And even though all Divisions II have a champion already, the differences for direct promotion or minimal, so that none of them is sure of direct promotion yet. Read about last weekend’s matches in this week’s Article!

In the Amiri League, we start with:

#1 Azad - #6 Abu Dhabi Humidity

Champion Azad wants to continue to end their season without losses and this week on the program was the team of former National Champions Abu Dhabi Humidity, who are once again in a very difficult season. With number 7, Dubai Heroes, closing in lately, there is pressure to perform, even though it is no secret that you cannot defeat Azad easily. In the last 6 official matches they scored at least once in the first fifteen minutes, and also this week they did not disappoint: Yousif Mahmoud Mansur opened the score 6 minutes into the match. Abu Dhabi Humidity kept excitement in the game with an equalizer, but in the second half, Azad showed their quality once more as their star forwards took care of 3 more goals. This result prevents Abu Dhabi Humidity by going further into the safety zone. Rival Dubai Heroes gets another opportunity to fully close the gap, but they do not get an easy match:

#2 Kojak United - #7 Dubai Heroes

As said above, Dubai Heroes gets a chance to take sixth place here, but beating Kojak United in an away match is difficult, especially since they have a very strong midfield, led by Mahmood Mansoor. Controlling the midfield and getting a good attack gave them great chances in this match. The first fifteen minutes were very quiet, but just 5 minutes later the score was 4 – 0 already, after goals from 4 different players. Pityful if you were just getting a drink and come back and find out you missed 4 goals… Those that got a drink during these five minutes had to wait long for more goals: in the second half, Naguan Hajjaji scored the fifth and final goal for Kojak United. This keeps Kojak United in second place, which means that they control the situation with one week left – a win next week will guarantee them to get second. For Dubai Heroes, this missed chance keeps them 3 points behind the number 6, and seeing the difference in goal balance, chances are nearly faded for them. Nevertheless they put up a great fight this season!

#3 Warrawong Grasshoppers - #8 AL-Saidi

Just like Azad and Kojak United, also Warrawong Grasshoppers as number 3 had a home match versus a team fighting against relegation. A win was necessary for AL-Saidi to keep their chances alive, but they did not get anywhere close a win. Grasshoppers’ Sander Rietveld scored a Hattrick in the first half, killing AL-Saidi’s dream of yet another season in the Amiri League. The second half did not make the situation better for AL-Saidi, as the Grasshoppers further increased the lead to 6 – 1. A big win for the Grasshoppers, but as rival Kojak United also won their match, they remain in third. To fight for second, they must win next week and hope that Kojak United loses points in an away match against AL-Saidi. Will (over)confidence play a crucial role in that match? I would not be surprised. AL-Saidi is now theoretically the first team sure of relegation. The gap of five points to the number 6 has grown too large with 1 match to come.

#4 Desert Wolves F.C - #5 NoTax United

As Kojak United and Warrawong Grasshoppers won their match, the only way on which Desert Wolves can stay in the race for second spot is by making sure they defeat number 5 NoTax United, who are marked by inconsistency this season – they have had some amazing matches, but also had some tough losses. Today, they did not win the midfield, but that is no necessity to win. NoTax United focused on the centre in both the defense and the attack, but did not choose to use Attacks in the Middle. A surprising choice, but maybe less surprising than Desert Wolves’ strategy. Desert Wolves had problems with confidence after some losses lately, but putting your wingers to the middle in the second half in combination with putting your forward to the wing does not really contribute to a sensible attack either. Until that move, Desert Wolves was doing well, but the odd strategic move was punished in the final stages of the game, as NoTax United scored twice and turned the game around to 2 – 3. Now Desert Wolves cannot get any better than fourth, while NoTax United cannot get worse than fifth. There is a small chance that NoTax United will still overtake Desert Wolves on the ranking to catch fourth, but the goal balance difference is pretty large, so that will not be easy.

II.1

New champion Indian Vikings is improving their chances of promoting back into the Amiri League, as they get a 4 – 0 home win versus number 6, LaMTaRa, who see their winning streak come to an end. Runner-up Los Blancos F.C secures improvement over the seasons as they are sure of ending up second this season – the 2 – 0 win against number 7 Invinsibles keeps the gap to the number 3 on 5 points with just 1 match to play. Both numbers 3 and 4, AL-Barsha and 300 warriors, played versus a bot team, and their 5 – 1 and 7 – 0 wins versus respectively Al Fujairah in fifth, and Sand Foxes in eighth gave both of them easy points. With a gap of just 0 points and 4 goals in goal balance between the pair of them, they will continue the battle for third next week. LaMTaRa and Invinsibles still fight for sixth with a gap of 2 points between the pair of them.

II.2:

The II.2 was the last Division II waiting for their Champion, but Inter AD changed that situation – their close 2 – 1 win versus archrival Juve Juniors kept the difference to the others on 6 points. That means Inter AD gets their second championship in a row now! Congratulations to them! Ottoman Empire FC crowns a good season with securing second, as they beat number 8 Reza 0 to 4. The Dubai Desert Devils defeat number 7 AC Falcons 5 to 1, which gives them third place. Al-Qurri was in a good flow, but dropped into fourth as they did not manage to defeat number 5 Dubai Rockets in an away match: 1 – 1. Places 3 to 5 are still unsure though. Juve Juniors is sure to end up sixth, while numbers 7 and 8, AC Falcons and Reza, are extremely close to each other on the ranking with even the goal balance both on -48. However, whoever wins that battle for seventh will relegate anyway.

II.3:

Champion IFK CastECastle got a good 3 – 0 home win versus number 7 -fc Aslansar-, who are losing sight of the Top 6. Numbers 2, 3 and 4 all do a good job and secure their spot in the Top 4. Number 2 Heart United had an amazing away win versus number 5 Bianconeri 4 ever: 1 – 4. Number 3, Ibsen Glory did not have an easy match, but their 1 – 3 away win versus number 8 The Winning 11 gave them 3 points as well. Number 4 Awesometropolis seems to get away from their problem of getting only draws: the 0 – 2 away win versus number 6 AL-MaMari was impressive!

IFK CastECastle focuses on promotion. The three closest followers are all on 22 or 21 points, and thus continue the fight for second place until the very last week, without pressure of relegation. Numbers 5 and 6, Bianconeri 4ever and AL-MaMari are just as close to each other, but need to remain careful, as only one of them is pretty sure of a Top 6 spot yet. Also, as the Top 4 is uncatcheable, it would be advisable to prepare for the Qualifier match. Since AL-MaMari faces number 7 –fc Aslansar- next week, who follow on three points, Bianconeri 4ever is 99.99% sure of a spot in the Top 6. To relegate, they should lose by more than 10 goals to Awesometropolis, and even if they do, they will most likely still not relegate. Therefore the advise to Bianconeri 4ever is to play PIC to prepare for the Qualifier match. That may give Awesometropolis an advantage again in their battle for second. Interesting situations here!

II.4:

I don’t think many expected that anyone could beat Total Tykes this season, but the unexpected happened nevertheless – in a home match! Emirate 2008 gave the crowd a real nailbiter, as both teams kept coming back after the other took the lead. In the end, Emirate 2008 had the longest breath, taking a 3 – 4 win. Plenty of goals from both sides, but seeing the match ratings, it raises the question how this result could have become truth. This complicates Tykes’ situation for promotion a lot. Runner-up Wild Boys U.A.E. did not have such a tough day, as their away match versus bot team Azzuri FC gave them no problems whatsoever: 0 – 8. Number 3 Dubai Gunners gives number 6 Kolonija FC the eighth loss in a row: 4 – 0. Emirate 2008 climbs into Top 4, as Al Taliaa drops into fifth after a terrible day: the score versus number 8 Alexa was 5 – 0! Seems Alexa shines too late this season.

Promotion from II and Relegation from the Amiri League – Qualifier matches:

It seems to be 99.9% sure that NoTax United and Abu Dhabi Humidity need to fight for their spot in the Amiri League next season via a Qualifier match. However, also Desert Wolves F.C and Dubai Heroes can still theoretically end up fifth or sixth, although that seems to be highly unlikely.

We already have our four champions from the II. However, Total Tykes’ loss changed the situation. Indian Vikings takes the lead in the battle of Champions, with 37 points and a great goal balance due to the low level in the II.1 with 2 bot teams. As Indian Vikings plays against one of these bot teams this week, they are practically sure of direct promotion. Also on 37 points is IFK CastECastle. However, they visit number 3 Ibsen Glory, a far from easy match. If they lose points, they will likely end up getting a Qualifier match, and the team to gain from that will then most likely be Total Tykes, who are now third in the battle of Champions with 36 points. Inter AD is last of the four champions, and so they can only get direct promotion if both Total Tykes and IFK CastECastle miss the win – an unlikely event, so it may be advisable to Inter AD to let go of their final match against number 2 Ottoman Empire FC and prepare for a Qualifiers match with a PIC.