Dubai: Ten-man Al Nasr held Al Shabab to a 1-1 draw at home on Thursday in match day 16 of the Arabian Gulf League.
Ebrahima Toure cancelled out Nasser Masoud’s 19th minute opener on 37 minutes to ensure fifth-placed Al Nasr denied fourth-placed Al Shabab the opportunity to pull ahead in the rankings, despite the home side having had a man sent off before the break.
Carlos Villanueva chested down Manei Mohammad’s cross ready for Masoud to tap home an opener for Al Shabab after the first quarter.
Al Nasr replied after the half hour when Toure ran onto the end of Pablo Hernandez’ defence-splitting pass to round keeper Eisa Abdullah and coolly slot in the equaliser.
Hernandez later missed the chance to put Al Nasr ahead after being thread through on goal by Fahad Hadid. But what little signs of resurgence the home side had were then ruined before the break when Mahmoud Khamis was sent off for a shoulder-barge on Masoud.
Al Shabab came out stronger after the interval with Bruno heading onto the post from Dawood Ali’s cross, and Villanueva forced a great save from Al Nasr keeper Ahmad Shambieh from a long shot after the hour.
But Al Nasr closed ranks and prevented the visitors from restoring their lead, and even had a clear chance to steal victory toward the end after Khalifa Mubarak Ghanem fired a follow-up to Renan Garcia’s freekick over the crossbar.
Mohammad Marzouq spilled Villanueva’s cross right before the whistle to force a goalmouth scramble before the whistle, but Al Nasr held on for the point.
Elsewhere, league-leaders Al Jazira beat Emirates 2-0 away after Ali Mabkhout got the opener on 18 minutes and Mubarak Saeed Walid netted an own goal three minutes later.
Third-placed Al Wahda also beat Bani Yas 3-1 at home in their first game since replacing coach Jose Peseiro with Sami Al Jaber midweek.
Amer Omar and Mohammad Al Shehhi put Al Wahda 2-0 up in the first half before Denis Stracqualursi pulled one back after the interval, but Al Shehhi was on hand to extend the home side’s lead before time.
