Saif strikes as Fujairah stun Al Wasl; Al Dhafra, Khorfakkan play draw
Players of Al Wasl and Fujairah in action during their Arabian Gulf Cup Group B match on Friday.
The Wolves were first to threaten Al Wasl, when Fernando Gabriel cut inside from the right flank, but his left-footed curler was parried away by Humaid Abdulla into a corner kick, just six minutes into the game.
The Cheetahs waited until the 38th minute to respond through Welliton Soares. The striker found space behind Fujairah’s backline, however, his strike went just wide off target.
Around the one-hour mark, Abdulla pulled off an excellent flying save to deny Jhonnattann Benites’ long range powerful right-footed rocket.
The visitors continued to push forward and in the 69th minute Humaid Abbas sent a defence-splitting through pass towards Saif, who dribbled cleverly past Abdulla and slotted the ball into the back of the net, making it 1-0.
The Wolves controlled the pace of the remaining minutes to secure an important 1-0 away victory against Al Wasl.
After the win, Fujairah temporarily occupy Group B’s second spot with four points ahead of their league opener against Al Wahda on the Sept.20. Meanwhile, Al Wasl occupy the group’s fourth position with just three points and will face Al Nasr in the first fixture of the Arabian Gulf League.
In another match, Al Dhafra played out a cautious 0-0 draw with Khorfakkan at Hamdan Bin Zayed Stadium.
Al Dhafra entered the game on the back of a 3-2 away from home win over Ittihad Kalba, while their opponents Khor Fakkan had one point from two games, as they lost to Al Jazira and drew with Al Nasr.
On the quarter-hour mark, a chance fell to Al Dhafra’s Youssef Khamis, but it was brilliantly saved by keeper Mohamed Youssef.
Khorfakkan came close to opening the scoring after they were awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute, however, Bismark Ferreira’s effort went above the bar.
Al Dhafra tried to break the deadlock in the early minutes of the second half, however, they failed to pose enough threat on their goal.
Junior posed some threat on Al Dhafra’s goal after coming on as substitute but Al Dhafra defense were alert.
Khorfakkan continued to threaten in the dying minutes of the game but keeper Khaled Al Senani kept a clean sheet as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Al Dhafra remain in third place on four points, while Khorfakkan are in fifth place on two points only.
Meanwhile, Ajman and Sharjah will be looking for their first win when they clash at Rashid Bin Saeed Stadium at 7pm on Saturday.
The Oranges played out a goalless draw with Hatta in the opening matchweek before drawing 2-2 with Fujairah in Group B. Meanwhile, the King had a poor start to their cup campaign as they lost 2-0 to Bani Yas and 3-1 to Al Wahda, leaving them at the bottom of the group with zero points.
Al Nahyan Stadium will be hosting the Group A clash between Al Wahda and Bani Yas at the same time.
The Clarets will be looking to maintain their perfect start to the season, as they are the only team who win their two games. They defeated both Fujairah and Sharjah 3-1 to top the group, thanks to in-form forward Abdullah Anwar who netted five goals so far.
They will be facing the Sky Blues, who played one game only so far, where they beat Sharjah 2-0 to sit second on Group B.
Al Nasr and Shabab Al Ahli will conclude the matchweek 3 action when they face off at Al Maktoum Stadium. In the opening week, the Blues defeated Ittihad Kalba 3-0 before drawing 0-0 with Khor Fakkan. Meanwhile, Shabab Al Ahli earned a tough 2-2 draw with Al Ain before thrashing Al Jazira 4-0.
While Shabab Al Ahli and Al Nasr are tied on four points, the former top the group on goal difference.
