After the completion of the 18th round in the Professional League Championship Al-Ahli Jazira, the fight for the gold quadrant is heating up. Shabab Al-Ahli maintained leadership, but they are preceded by Shardja, while Al-Uhda sits alone in third place, followed by Al-Jazira. Al-Ain fell back one step, leading with them Al-Wasl and Al-Nasr.
At the bottom of the table, Al-Aruba and Dibba Al-Hisn continue to fight for survival among professional clubs for the next season after a series of negative results in the tournament, while Al-Bataih, the closest competitor in survival, lost to Kalba.
Round 18 marks a reduction in the number of goals scored, as the teams scored only 12 goals, making this round the lowest in goals among all rounds of the championship held to date. However, the 3rd and 5th rounds remain the most negative, as in each of them, 33 goals were scored.
Three clubs managed to change the match results in the last minutes: Kalba snatched victory from Wasl 2-1 in the 90+4 minute, a similar score concluded the match between Al-Uhdu and Al-Ain when Ibrahim Diara scored a goal in the 90+5 minute; in addition, Al-Jazira defeated Al-Aruba at the same time with a penalty.
Al-Uhda's success in interrupting a five-match losing streak against Al-Ain was marked by a victory of 2-1. The match was won with a numerical advantage, related to the expulsion of defender Matheus Cardoso in the 30th minute. Al-Uhda climbed to third place, surpassing Al-Ain with 31 points, although they had an outstanding match against Shabab Al-Ahli. Al-Jazira, defeating Dibba Al-Hisn without conceding a goal, climbed to fourth place, having 30 points and also one outstanding match against Shardja.
Al-Ain dropped to fifth place with 29 points, Wasl remained sixth with 27 points, and Nasr seventh with 26 points after an unsuccessful appearance against Ajman 1-2 on the previous round.
The absence of foreign referees in league matches continues for the fifth round in a row after their last appearance in round 13 through Russian referee Sergey Karasev. The Chinese referee was present in the match between Al-Uhda and Al-Ain, who is always one of the most attractive for foreign referees in recent years, as well as in the first match in Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, which was officiated by Italian referee Davide Massa.
It should be noted that foreign referees participated in all 10 matches out of 124, held in the championship before the 18th round.
