Abu Dhabi: Al Sharjah, battling to stay out of the relegation zone, played the role of spoiler to perfection for 90 minutes but couldn’t stop Al Ahli from stealing a 1-0 win in stoppage time in the 18th round of the Arabian Gulf League on Saturday.
Al Ahli’s Brazilian forward Ciel, who returned to the venue where he sustained a double fracture of the ankle at the start of the 2014/15 campaign, sent in a cross from a tight angle and Moussa Sow nodded it home to save the day.
With this result, Al Ahli is two points adrift of league leaders Al Ain, who are on 46 points while Sharjah, with 18 points are one clear of Al Dhafra, who are staring at relegation.
Sharjah seemed to have put their 4-1 demolition at the hands of Al Nasr behind when they took on front runners Al Ahli at home. They marked Al Ahli players well right from the start and allowed very little room for their forward line to get a clear shy of the goal.
As a result, the first half ended goalless and the closest of opportunities came in the 33rd minute. Al Ahli’s forward Ciel, tested the Sharjah custodian Rashid Ahmed with a long ranger, only to see it find the framework.
Just before going into the breather, Ahmed was alert enough to thwart another power-packed attempt – a timely block to keep Brazilian Everton Ribeiro’s volley out.
Brazilian Wanderley Santos’ witty through was well latched on by Ricardo and though he beat the onrushing Al Ahli custodian Majed Naser with a neat chip, the attempt lacked power to roll into the goal.
Two minutes from time, when Al Ahli was disallowed a clear penalty for a harsh tackle on Abdulaziz Sanqour by Abdulla Ahmed, one felt Sharjah has been rewarded for the relentless fight they persisted all through the match. However, Sow’s injury time winner spoiled what would have turned out to be a memorable night for Sharjah.
