Cheetahs keep the pace
dubai — Except for that blip against Al Jazira on opening day, Al Wasl have hardly put a foot wrong.
And The Cheetahs continued the good work by blanking Al Sharjah 2-0 in the fifth round of the Arabian Gulf League at the Zabeel Stadium on Thursday night.
Goals from Fabio de Lima and Caio Canedo gave Al Wasl their fourth win on the bounce, while Al Sharjah suffered a third loss.
In what was a pretty good crowd turnout, The Cheetahs held all the aces, although the score line was not a true reflection of it.
Al Wasl should have been ahead by three at the least and should have put this game to bed, heading into the hour.
It was a barrage of shots that they came up with, especially in the second half. But, for all their domination, it was just that Fabio de Lima goal on 14 minutes, after an assist from Caio Canedo, that separated the two sides.
It was a neat flowing move with both surging into the box before Canedo passed from the left for Lima to do the rest.
They got agonisingly close to getting a second on 39 minutes but Al Sharjah goalkeeper Mohamed Yousef, who had a very busy night under the bar, managed to keep out Lima’s header from close range, following a Khaleil Khamis freekick. Al Wasl upped the intensity after the restart and laid siege in the opening minutes of the half with a flurry of opportunities, during which Caio Canedo was denied from close range, on 49 minutes.
Al Sharjah, who were left to play second fiddle, had only one attempt to show, a grounder from Venezuelan striker Gelmin Javier Rivas, which failed to threaten goalkeeper Rashed Ali.
A littl later, Al Wasl were denied by the woodwork with Ali Hassan Salmin’s screamer hitting the cross bar. But The Cheetahs were not to be denied any longer with Caio Canedo getting onto the scoresheet after weaving his way through the middle before firing it past Mohamed Yousef, on 76 minutes.
james@khaleejtimes.com