Fabio De Lima and Caio Canedo Correa showed glimpses of Brazilian flair, but it was Mali's Modibo Maigo who stole the limelight at the Zabeel Stadium when he helped Ajman rally from two goals down to hold Al Wasl 2-2 in the ninth round of the Arabian Gulf League at the Zabeel Stadium on Thursday.

Down, and almost out, till the 78th minute, the Oranges were heading for another defeat after they lost to Sharjah in the previous match. But Maigo stole the thunder with two superb goals to silence the home crowd.

The first came in the 78th minute when he tapped home a cross from Waleed Abdullah and with five minutes to go for the long whistle the Malian denied The Cheetahs three points with a powerful header from Azizbek Haydarov's free-kick.

However, the draw, Al Wasl's first after four wins at home, was still good enough as they hung onto top spot with 21 points after second-placed Al Ain were held goalless by eight-placed Dibba at Fujairah Stadium earlier in the day.

With only two draws from nine matches, both away, and a good record at home, Al Wasl were expected to quash the Oranges. And when Fabio scored a peach of a goal in the 19th minute and Caio added another in the 38th it looked like a one-sided match.

But that was far from it as Maigo capitalised on some poor defending by Wasl and made them pay for their lapses. Had Brazilian Adeilson De Mello make good the two chances that came his way, the scoreline could have read in favour of Ajman.

Speaking after the match an elated Ajman coach Ayman Elramadi said. "It was a very important point for us. I am very happy with the result although we missed players like Bakary Kone and Mohammad Malallah. It is not easy to come back from two goals and that too against Wasl at their home ground.

Al Wasl coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena, said that the team committed too many mistakes, especially in the second half. He hopes his players will learn from it.

Source: Khaleej Times