Al Shaab surge to top by defeating Al Shabab

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.