Dubai: Al Shabab rode on a second half strike from Nasser Masaood to continue their resurgence with a solitary-goal win against title aspirants Al Nasr in the 20th round of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) late on Saturday.

The lone goal came ten minutes into the second half as Al Shabab further built on their shock 2-1 away win against defending champions in Al Ain last week. The three points took the team from Al Mamzar into sixth place with 29 points.

Al Ahli continue to lead the standings with 50 points while defending champions Al Ain may cut down the lead to one point, should they manage to pick up full points against Al Jazira when the two teams meet on Sunday.

With only

With just six rounds of the league remaining, the result put a severe dent in Al Nasr’s title hopes as they continue their chase of the leaders.

Al Nasr started off well with an array of attacks, but the home team defence managed to soak in the early pressure. Young Jassim Yaqoob was a constant threat to the Al Shabab defence from the very first minute when he missed from well inside the area. Brazilian striker Nilmar then missed on a couple of occasions as the home side defended in numbers.

Perhaps the only chance that came to Al Shabab was in the 33rd minute when skipper Carlos Villanueva fed Henrique Luvannor but was denied in the nick of time by Masaood Sulaiman.

Once again it was Al Nasr starting strongly in the second half, and yet again it was the home side defence and goalkeeper Hassan Hamza keeping them in the match. With the second half ten minutes old, an Azizbek Hydarov free kick saw Luvannor send in a diving header for Masaood to divert into an empty goal at the far post.

Stung by that goal, Al Nasr continued with their earnestness in finding the home goal. But Al Shabab pulled back the speedy Luvannor to assist in defending while bringing in a second Brazilian Juninho Potiguar. The visitors came close to equalizing on several occasions, but the Al Shabab defence simply stood their ground till the final whistle.

Result: Al Shabab x Al Nasr 1-0