Ali Daei (left) is closely marked by Al Shaab's Saeed Yousuf. ©Gulf News
Al Shabab 0 Al Shaab 2
Al Ittihad 1 Dubai club 1
Gulf News - Al Shaab topped the First division football league standing
after defeating Al Shabab 2-0 at Maktoum bin Rashid stadium in Dubai
Thursday night.
The home defeat only compounded Al Shabab's woes, who are at the bottom of
the table with two points from two draws and five defeats.
Al Shaab are on top of the table with 14 points and a better goal
difference than Al Ain, who also have 14 points and a postponed match
against Al Ahli, to be played on Monday.
Al Shaab were the better side of this lack-lustre encounter as they
created scoring chances and netted two goals, which earned them three
points.
Jasim Al Doukhy of Al Shaab faced the Shabab keeper in the sixth minute,
but failed to score when the custodian blocked his attempt. A minute
later, Mohammed Suroor proceeded from the left flank and crossed to Sheikh
Diop. However, the Shabab keeper Hasan Sherrif dived and saved it before
reaching Diop's feet.
Al Shabab's attacks lacked the punch as Iranian striker Ali Daei and
Ghanian Arthur Moses were marked closely by Al Shaab defenders Omran Al
Jessmy, Rashid Abdul Rahman and Saeed Yousuf. They denied them from
scoring during the entire 90 minutes.
Sheikh Diop scored the Al Shaab's first goal four minutes before the break
when the Al Shabab defender Khalil Mirza's clearance came in the path of
Diop infront of the penalty area. The Senegalese striker fired a
right-footer that went straight to the right of a hapless Hasan Sherrif.
Al Shabab began to attack from the start of the second half and Yousuf
Fikri's shot was saved by Al Shaab keeper Jamal Abdullah in the 49th
minute.
Mohammed Suroor sealed victory for Al Shaab by scoring the second in the
55th minute with a powerful header following a long floating pass by
Rashid Abdul Rahman. Suroor's header beat Sherrif to his left despite a
valiant attempt from the custodian.
Again Al Shabab were on the offensive, but Daei, Salim Saad and Arthur
couldn't capitalise on the chances that came their way as Al Shaab
defenders and midfielders blocked the way and cleared all attacking moves.
Khalil Mirza lost a good scoring chance in the 74th minute when his shot,
on a rebound, from close range sailed over the bar. Suroor would have add
the third for Al Shaab had not Shabab keeper advanced and cleared the ball
in the 77th minute.
Ali Daei's free kick from 30 meters sailed over in the 81st minute. Again
Daei found a good chance to reduce the deficit, but his free-kick was
blocked by the Al Shaab defensive wall, four minutes from end.
The last of the Al Shabab's chances was also squandered by Daei when he
was put through in the second minute of the injury time with only the
keeper to beat, surprisingly he shot straight into the keeper's hands.
In the second match played at Kalba stadium at the eastern coast, Dubai
club fought tooth and nail to score an away point, but had to settle for a
1-1 against Al Ittihad.
Cedric scored for Al Ittihad in the 59th minute and Ahmed Ali levelled for
Dubai club in the 86th minute. Dubai club are now sixth with 11 points,
while Al Ittihad stayed eighth with six points.
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