Shabab Al Ahli down Kalba as Sharjah rally to beat Fujairah
Ittihad Kalba and Shabab Al Ahli players in action during their Arabian Gulf League match on Saturday.
Shabab Al Ahli opened the game with an outstanding goal. Federico Cartabia sent a defence-splitting through pass to Abdulaziz Mubarak. The number 9 crossed the ball to Igor Jesus, who finished into the back of the net in the fourth minute.
In a sudden turn of events, Sultan Al Zaabi was sent off after collecting his second yellow card in the 22nd minute, leaving Ittihad Kalba with only 10 players in the field.
And only when the Tigers thought things couldn’t get worse, the conceded another goal. In the 24th minute, Jamal Al Sarrah managed to save a shot from Igor Jesus but it went back to Carlos Eduardo who sent a rocket into Al Sarrah’s net bringing the score up to 2-0.
In the 72nd minute, Cartabia dribbled through Ittihad Kalba’s defense and almost scored a goal, but the ball went just wide.
In the final moments of the game, Waleed Hussain made a powerful long shot that landed into the back of the net after a deflection off Ittihad Kalba’s defender in the 76th minute.
Shabab Al Ahli will next face Al Ain, while Ittihad Kalba will go against Ajman in the next matchweek.
Meanwhile, Sharjah came from behind to earn a 4-2 win over Fujairah on Friday night in the opening matchweek of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) held under the slogan commit to win.
The King opened the scoring with an exceptional shot from Welliton after an assist from Khaleid Bawazir to put his side 1-0 up in the 21st minute.
In the 37th minute, the Wolves got back in the game after a long pass from Mutau Owolabi was converted by Kristiano Samuel into an outstanding goal to bring the game to a draw.
Sharjah almost scored a second goal in the 45th minute when Caio Lucas’ powerful header went just next to Abdulla Altamimi’s crossbar.
After a perfect dribble through Sharjah’s defense, Farley Rosa made an astounding pass over Adel Alhosani’s head to Firas Ben Al Arbi who easily put the ball into the net to put the Wolves ahead in the 52nd minute.
In the 79th minute, Lucas sent a perfect cross to Welliton who sent a powerful header into Altamimi’s net to complete his brace and level the scoreline.
Igor Coronado managed to score an outstanding goal from a foul just outside the penalty box in the 91st minute.
And only when the Wolves’ fans thought that things couldn’t get worse, Sharjah were awarded a penalty in the 98th minute that was converted by Lucas to give the King a 4-2 win.
Al Ain avenged their recent loss to Khorfakkan in the Arabian Gulf Cup (AGC) with a 3-0 win at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday.
Al Ain missed a chance to open the scoring early in the game, when Salem Abdullah launched a counterattack in the fifth minute, before crossing the ball inside the box to find Mohamed Abdulrahman, but the latter’s effort went wide.
In the 27th minute, Rayan Yaslam put the Boss 1-0 ahead. Following a number of passes, the ball fell to Yaslam inside the box before unleashing his shot to settle into the back of the net.
After consulting the VAR, Khorfakkan were awarded a penalty for a foul on Al Ain keeper Khalid Eisa. The guests, however, failed to level the scoreline as Eisa denied Brazilian midfielder Dodo.
Fifteen minutes after the restart, Al Ain missed a chance to double their lead as the ball fell to Barman inside the box, but he missed the target.
The Boss continued to pile up the pressure and missed another chance four minutes later, with a number of players failing to convert the ball in the back of the net off a freekick.
With 20 minutes to go, Al Ain were awarded a penalty kick, but Wilson Eduardo failed to score from the spot for the second game in a row, sending the ball wide.
In the dying moments of the game, Wislon Eduardo finally got his name on the scoresheet with a powerful left-footed strike off Salem Abdullah’s cross.
