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Al Shaab shock Al Nasr in Arabian Gulf League

Al Dhafra and Bani Yas play out 0-0 draw in Round 15 of Arabian Gulf League.

Ibrahima Toure of Al Nasr and Spencer Silva Lima of Al Shaab vie for the ball during the Arabian Gulf League match at the Al Shaab stadium in Sharjah on Friday. — KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd

Al Shaab got off the mark with a stunning 2-0 home victory over 10-man Al Nasr in the 15^th round of the Arabian Gulf League at Shaikh Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium here on Friday.

Badr Al Noubi made the best of a poor clearance by Al Nasr defenders to put the Commandos ahead in the 39^th minute. This was also the result at half-time. Michel Laurent doubled the score-line in the 78^th minute, while Al Nasr were reduced to ten players after midfielder Tareq Ahmed was sent off to further complicate the mission of the Blues.

Ironically, while Al Nasr are one of the front runners for the trophy, promoted Al Shaab are struggling at the bottom of the table to escape a possible relegation to the first division national league.

Al Nasr have slipped to the fifth position with 23 points on goals difference ahead of Al Dhafra and nine points off the pace, as the Commandos have increased their tally to ten points to advance from the tail of the standings to the 12^th position two points in front of Ajman and Dubai respectively.

However, both sides have squandered a handful of scoring opportunities. Al Nasr did every move to bounce back after they were 0-1 down to their hosts, but all their attempts were in vain. The tough moment for Al Nasr came in the 78^th minute when Laurent Michel added the second goal for Al Shaab before Al Nasr’s woes were worsened when Tareq Ahmed was sent off at a time when the coach was planning to replace him after receiving the first yellow card.

Elsewhere, Al Dhafra and Bani Yas played out a 0-0 stalemate at the Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium in Round 15 of the Arabian Gulf League; a repeat of the score when the two sides met earlier in the League season. The draw means Al Dhafra now have 23 points whilst Bani Yas have 21.

Al Dhafra’s Rogerio forced a save from Sultan Musabbeh with a curling effort in just the first minute of his League debut, and five minutes later at the other end a thumping Nawaf Mubarak effort from strike had Abdulla Sultan scrambling across the face of goal to keep it out.

Bani Yas debutant Sebastian Prediger worked hard to make a good impression, having a productive first half, but it was Al Dhafra who looked the likeliest to score as half time approached with Sky Blues defender Mohamed Jaber having to throw his body in the way to deny the active Rogerio. In the 38^th minute Kamel Chafni’s cross was almost met by the head of Makhete Diop but the tall African couldn’t stretch quite far enough, and a minute later he put a header from a Bandar Mohammed cross just wide of the post as the teams remained level at 0-0 at the break. The second half continued in the same vein, with each side cancelling the other out as both defenses stood strong. Bani Yas survived an injury time scare after a mix-up with goalkeeper Sultan Musabbeh almost letting substitute Ali Al Hammadi through, but Omani defender Abdul Salam Al Mukhaini was on hand to avert the danger and take a point back to the Bani Yas Stadium.