Al Sharjah end 10-match drought
sharjah — Al Sharjah ended their 10-match winless drought with a much-needed victory over Ittihad Kalba in the 21st round of the Arabian Gulf League at the Al Sharjah Stadium on Thursday night.
Goals from Polish international Adrian Mierzejewski and Venezuelan striker Gelmin Javier Rivas gave ‘The King’ a 2-1 win. Al Sharjah’s hadn’t won ever since that 3-2 verdict against Emirates last December but finally put it together on the night. It also gave coach Jose Peseiro his first win in eight matches, since he took over in January.
It was a rather tepid first half with not many chances to write home about for either side. Although, it must be said that Al Sharjah did have the better of them and managed to keep the visitors goalkeeper Mohamed Osman busy. Amer Omar, formerly with Al Wahda sent a neat through on 24 minutes but it was a tad too long for Yousif Saeed to get to.
Al Sharjah had two more forays before the curtains fell on the half but they were denied by an alert Osman. Venezuelan striker Gelmin Javier Rivas came up with a neat through from the middle but Osman stepped out and made a desperate dive and collected it before Omar Juma could get to it.
And with a minute left in the half, Rivas and Juma played a one-two but again, an alert Osman was up to it and rushed out and had it covered. Both the coaches — Al Sharjah’s Jose Peseiro and his opposite number Goran Tufegdzic played their hand with second half substitutions. Peseiro brought on captain Adrian Mierzejewski for Amer Omar, while Ciel, who had had an injury cloud prior to the game and was had started on the bench, came on for Shaheen Surour.
And those changes breathed life into proceedings, especially for Al Sharjah, although Kalba did have an attempt of their own, with Bakary Kone’s long ranger thwarted by goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani on 50 minutes. Al Sharjah made a dangerous sortie on 57 minutes with Rivas playing on and surging ahead into vast open spaces. He then shot across goal, and although Kalba defender Ali Saeed got a touch, it fell in Omar Juma’s path. But then, Juma fluffed his lines and shot over.
james@khaleejtimes.com