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Arabian Gulf League: Ajman shock Al Jazira

Villanueva earns Al Shabab a crucial 1-0 victory over Al Wasl

Action during the match between Al Jazira and Ajman

Al Jazira’s title campaign received a dent as the former champions went 0-1 down to the bottom of the table Ajman in the 17^th round of the Arabian Gulf League at the Rashid bin Saeed Stadium here on Friday. Boris Kabi headed home the winner in the 56^th minute of a closely contested clash.

And while Ajman have increased their tally to 12 points and settled 12^th in the 14-side table, Al Jazira slipped to third position to settle four points off the pace with a possibility of being widened to seven should pace setters Al Ahli overcame hosts Al Shaab in their late night encounter.

In another clash, Carlos Villanueva struck from the spot in the 86^th minute to earn Al Shabab a crucial 1-0 victory over arch rivals Al Wasl at Maktoum bin Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Thursday night.

After a goalless first half, Al Wasl restarted the game with a truly aggressive intentions looking for an early lead, but all their moves were in vain. Donda did everything to serve the first ultimatum, but his final touch was far from perfect. Al Shabab retaliated with a similar attempt. Adeilson penetrated into the forbidden area before being brought down inside the box and the referee turned a blind eye to his penalty claim.

In the 57^th minute Azizbek Haydarov drilled a long-distance effort just over the crossbar With Al Shabab banging on the door in search of the lead, Al Wasl made an attacking change to bring January signing Saeed Al Katheeri on in place of Mariano Donda with just over 20 minutes remaining, and moments after the substitution another new January recruit for Al Wasl — Darwish Ahmed — flashed a cross-come-shot just inches wide of the post.

Al Shabab were then forced into a defensive reshuffle as Esam Dhahi retired with injury, being replaced by Mohamed Hussain with 15 minutes to go. Ricardo Oliveira fizzed a shot just wide of the post before immediately being substituted for top-scoring Emirati Mohamed Naser up front for Al Wasl, whilst Al Shabab brought Essa Obaid on for Dawood Ali to try and find a way through.

With less than five minutes remaining the hosts were finally handed a way into the game as Adeilson was tripped by Maher Jassim on the edge of the area and the referee pointed to the spot. Chilean midfielder Carlos Villanueva stepped up to stroke a calm and collected penalty kick beyond Rashed Ali and give Al Shabab a 1-0 lead in the 86^th minute. Mohamed Naser saw his late curling on-target free kick saved by Ismail Rabee, and Al Shabab held on for the remainder of injury time to take all three points.