Jociel’s dual strike hands Al Jazira first defeat

Dubai: Only Jociel Ferreira has shown a capability of pulling a team out of a rut this season, and late on Friday the Brazilian was once again the hero as Al Shabab handed ten-man defending champions Al Jazira their first defeat with a 3-2 result in the UAE Premier League.

Down by two early first half goals, Al Jazira had shown true grit of champions to cut out goals from Julio Cesar (12th minute) and Ciel (19th) to draw level 2-2 with skipper Ebrahim Diakhy (57th) and Jader Volnei Spindler alias Bare (73rd) getting the goals.
But with just one minute remaining for the full time whistle Ciel slammed in his second of the night after receiving a ball inside the area from playmaker Carlos Villanueva and it was all over for the defending champions.

Al Shabab was joined by Al Ain as the second big winners of the night when Cosmin Olaruoi’s men handed Diego Maradona’s Al Wasl a 2-0 defeat.

Friday’s results altered the overall standings with Al Ain frog-leaping Al Wahda for second position with 14 points, while Al Shabab maintained their unbeaten record so far to creep into joint third along with Al Wahda and 12 points apiece.

Down by two goals early in the first half itself, and then reduced to ten men after the 67th minute sending off of Khalid Sabil, Al Jazira clawed their way back and deservingly walked with their heads held high as they stayed in search of a point till Ciel’s second goal in the 89th minute sealed their fate.

Al Shabab opened the scoring on the 12th minute when Julio Cesar nodded in a rebound that came off the cross bar following Eisa Mohammad’s header off a Ciel corner. And then in the 19th minute, Ciel doubled the score for the home team following a fantastic counter-attack that saw the Brazilian swiftly switch flanks to countryman Julio Cesar who relayed to Waleed Abbas for Ciel to come up with a stylish finish.

The home side went all out in search of consolidating their position early in the second half and nearly managed to find the Al Jazira net a couple of times, but for some unimaginative shooting. And then Ciel missed probably the easiest of chances of his career in the 54th and 56th minutes with just the goalkeeper to beat.
Al Jazira celebrated these escapes with a goal in the 57th minute when captain Ebrahim Diakhy received from Matias Delgado and rifled past goalkeeper Salem Abdullah.

Al Shabab continued with their ascendancy over the defending champions creating a higher volume of chances. The visitors stayed under pressure as Sabil got red-carded for a second bookable offence in the 67th minute. However, the defending champions were far from finished as Bare headed in an inch-perfect cross from Delgado in the 73rd minute.

But Ciel had the last laugh as he received cleanly on his left from Villanueva and blasted in a left-footer giving no chance at all to Khalid Eisa on the Al Jazira goal.