Dubai: Al Shabab consolidated their third position with a solitary goal win over Bani Yas, while Al Nasr jumped one spot into fifth with an identical win over Fujairah in the 19th round of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) late on Friday.
The three points helped Al Shabab stay firm in third place with 37 points, just two away from second-placed Al Jazira.
Al Nasr, meanwhile, rode on a second minute strike from Mahmoud Khamis to collect all three points in distant Fujairah to leap over neighbours Al Wasl in fifth position with 31 points.
Al Shabab showed plenty of enterprise from the start and should have taken the lead off the very first move of the match when Henrique Luvannor rose high to meet an Abdullah Faraj cross from the right. But the Brazilian’s header missed the target.
Edgar Bruno could have put the home team in the lead in the eighth minute, but he headed a Luvannor cross well over the goal despite no one challenging him.
In the 25th minute Al Shabab came close yet again after Luvannor was put through by his captain Carlos Villanueva. The Brazilian did well to take his marker in his stride, but blasted wide off goal.
Just reward
Much against the run of play it was Luvannor getting his just reward for all the hard work in the 36th minute. The Brazilian judged a goal kick from Salem Abdullah, cut past Mohsin Al Hashmi on the Al Jazira goal and placed into an unattended net.
The home side came close on several occasions after that, but the Bani Yas defence led by skipper Yousuf Jabber simply refused to give in.
Much of the second half belonged to Bani Yas, but either it was their strikers lacking a final touch or it was a resolute home side defence coming to the rescue.
In Fujairah, Al Nasr secured full points with a 1-0 win against the hosts to climb their way into fifth place. It was the nippy Mahmoud Khamis making all the difference with a goal in the very second minute to earn Ivan Jovanovic’s side full points.
