Sharjah dent Al Wahda’s Pro League title hopes
DUBAI: Sharjah managed a 2-1 win against Al Wahda, and in that they gited Al Ain some breathing space at the top of the table in matchweek 22 of the ADNOC Pro League.
Sharjah sit in fourth place, level on 45 points with Al Wahda who are third.
Gustavo threatened early on in the game for Sharjah who we the beter side in the opening minutes ater he headed a ball across the post.
23 minutes into the game, Al Wahda opened the scoring with their first shot thanks to European Cup winner Adrien Silva, who managed to slot home ater Darwish Mohamed saved Omar Khribin’s initial shot, with Joao Pedro teeing up Silva for the rebound.
Sharjah kept pressing for an equaliser and Bernard almost got it with 36 minutes on the clock, but an Al Wahda defender held fast and blocked the shot before Ben Malango eventually got the goal that pulled them back with six minutes of time remaining before the break.
This goal saw him break his scoring drought, which lasted for 47 minutes of play.
The Congolese forward stole the show once more just before the half-time whistle, ater heading in Bernard’s free kick, seeing out the half in front for his side.
Al Wahda atempted to claw back in the second half with an early atack coming through Fabio Martins, who crossed the ball for Khribin but the Syrian striker scraped the bar with his header.
Sharjah could have gone further in front when none other than Malango was stopped in his tracks as he atempted to shoot. Luan Pereira too was almost headed Sharjah further in front, but it was wide of the target.
With Al Wahda desperate for an equaliser,
Sharjah’s counter-atacks posed more threats as time passed with Ousmane Camara testing the keeper late on before doing so again with seven minutes of play let, atempting to shoot but somehow missed a gaping goal with his slow reaction to the situation. The final minutes passed with Sharjah holding on to gain a valuable win.
Al Jazira moved level with Wahda and Sharjah with a comfortable 3-0 win over Ajman at the Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium.
UAE striker Ali Mabkhout found the net twice ater Abdoulay Diaby had put Jazira in front on 17 minutes.
Mabkhout and Diaby exchanged with the later dispatchingalowfinishpastthekeeperalialhosani.
The UAE international doubled his side’s lead on 37 minute with a clinical finish when Abdulla Ramadan chipped a ball over Ajman’s defence into the penalty area.
Makhbout grabbed his brace on 72 minutes when he met Mohammed Jamal’s through pass with a smart finish into the back of the net.
Meanwhile, Abdulla Naser Al Jneibi, first vice-president of the UAE Football Association, and Chairman of the UAE Pro League received, a delegation of the Egyptian Club Association (ECA), headed by Ahmed Diab.
The meeting was held at the UAE’S Pro League HQ in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the Pro League Cup final.
Al Ahly and Egypt legend Emad Meteb, the deputy head of the Egyptian Club Association, and Egyptian media figure Osama Al Sheikh, in addition to representatives of the UAE Pro League’s various departments have also atended the meeting.
During the visit, the Emirati and Egyptian attendees exchanged memorial shields, emphasizing the need to strengthen cooperation during the coming period for the interest of football in the two friendly countries.