Dubai: Al Jazira were held to a thrilling 4-4 away draw to Sharjah in their Arabian Gulf Cup tie on Tuesday.
The Abu Dhabi side fought back from 3-1 down at half-time to lead 4-3 on the hour with three goals inside 10 minutes early in the second half, but a Maicosuel freekick ensured the hosts took a deserved point.
The result moves Sharjah up to five points in Group B just two points adrift of a top two qualifying spot for the semi-finals behind Al Shabab and Al Wahda. Al Shabab’s unbeaten run in the tournament, however, was ended by a 10-man Al Wahda at the latter’s home ground Al Nahyan Stadium on Monday.
Meanwhile, bottom side Al Jazira’s woes are only temporarily muted as they moved to level bottom with Al Ain ahead of The Boss’ later Tuesday night fixture away to Fujairah.
Wanderley Santos headed Hamdan Qassim’s cross in for Sharjah’s opener just before the half-hour mark, before securing his brace ten minutes later when he volleyed in Maicosuel’s freekick.
Al Jazira then pulled one back through Sultan Al Shamsi’s long shot in the 42nd minute, but Sharjah added a third goal a minute before the break when Abdullah Ganim headed in a corner to make it 3-1.
The visitors came out stronger after the interval however, and Thiago Neves was able to curl in from a distance following a poor clearance in the 51st minute before Khalfan Mubarak put through for the equaliser just before the hour.
Their comeback was seemingly complete three minutes later when Abdullah Juma headed the Abu Dhabi side in front for the first time from Neves’ assist. But Maicosuel restored order for Sharjah from a freekick in the 65th minute.
In the Al Shabab versus Al Wahda game, Sebastian Tagliabue scored the lone goal of the match in the first half but was given marching orders just before the break with a second booking. Al Wahda thus clinched their first win of the tournament and now have seven points in Group B while Al Shabab stay on top of the table with nine points.
Al Shabab came close to scoring as early as in the 13th minute when winger Khalifa Abdullah combined well with Brazilian striker Jo to test Al Wahda goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani, who was alert enough to thwart the danger.
Tagliabue then provided Al Wahda with the breakthrough after he found the goal with a neat placement following a corner. However, Tagliabue’s sending off just before the half-time whistle forced Al Wahda to battle the entire second session with 10 men. Al Shabab, then, piled on the pressure and it even needed a goal-line clearance from Hussain Fadel to prevent Jo from scoring after being fed by Ahmad Sulaiman. Al Wahda soaked in all the pressure towards the end and held their defences tightly to seal the win.
