Erceg powers Shabab Al Ahli to 2-1 victory over Al Dhafra
abu dhabi — Ante Erceg scored a late winner as Shabab Al Ahli Dubai prevailed 2-1 over Al Dhafra during the Arabian Gulf League encounter at Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium on Friday.
It was a close fight between Dubai’s ‘Red Knights’ and the ‘Western Knights’. However, the visitors had enough firepower to beat Al Dhafra.
In the first half, there were few scoring opportunities at either end. Al Dhafra came close with a direct free-kick from Abdullah Abdulqader.
His volley, however, whizzed past the right post. In the closing stages of the half, an alert Zaid Al Hammadi denied Shabab Al Ahli a great scoring chance. It was a biting pass into the box from the right flank by Waleed Amber. The delivery was nicked by Mohamed Ismail to Makhete Diop and the Senegal striker blasted it into the goal but keeper was up to the task.
A testing 45 minutes of play finished without goals.
However, minutes after the break, the first goal came. It was a scorching run from the left flank by Abdelaziz Salim Ali and the defender crossed into the box with four waiting Shabab Al Ahli Dubai players. The delivery went straight to Diop, who tapped it to the right side for Waleed Amber to shoot past four Al Dhafra players into the top right corner of the goal.
Shabab Al Ahli’s lead didn’t last long. In the 72nd minute Al Dhafra’s substitute Ali Al Hammadi sent a lovely cross into the Shabab Al Ahli’s danger area. And Al Dhafra defender Mohamed Al Hammadi found a sharp dipping header to pin it past keeper Hassan Hamza into the left corner of the goal.
With less than 20 minutes to go, coach Mahdi Ali was desperate. It was going to be 11 draws out of total 21 League matches. However, in the 78th minute, the smile returned on Ali’s face.
Croatian midfielder Ante Erceg scored through a stunning free-kick. Keeper Zaid Al Hammadi had moved too soon to his right side and the placement by Erceg was towards the left corner. The goal scorer ran straight to a relieved coach.
And Shabab Al Ahli did well to keep Al Dhafra at bay for rest of the remaining minutes to secure their seventh win of the season. Al Dhafra remain in tenth spot with 18 points and live to fight for the last berth.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com