Al Wasl rally from a goal downto beat Sharjah

Abu Dhabi: Al Wasl returned victorious to Dubai after beating Sharjah 2-1 while Al Wahda and Al Shabab shared a dull goalless draw in early matches yesterday in the Etisalat Pro-League's 12th week.

Sharjah went into the lead early when their top striker Marcelo put them ahead in the sixth minute with a beautiful header, but Iranian Khalatabri levelled the score nine minutes later with a strong shot from outside the penalty box. Juan Manuel Olivera sealed the result for the visitors in the 61st minute with another header following a flag kick from Donda.

Keeper to the rescue

Diego Maradona and his players, however, should be grateful to their custodian Majid Nasser who saved a penalty kick in the 71st minute from Marcelo which could have tied the score.

Brazilian Jorvan Vieira, the head coach of Sharjah, is still waiting to celebrate his first league victory since the start of the season. He led Bani Yas at the start of the competition but did not win a single match before his contract was terminated and now he is still waiting to end his drought with Sharjah.

In Abu Dhabi, Al Wahda and Al Shabab disappointed the fans who came to watch them fight for a top seat in the standings as both teams failed to score and it was the first draw this season in 71 matches in which both teams failed to score.

Both teams suffered from the absence of key players because of injuries and suspension or because of national duty with the UAE Olympic Team in its training camp in Saudi Arabia.

Al Shabab increased their tally to 20 points, Al Wahda and Al Wasl to 18 each and Sharjah remained with only nine, directly facing the threat of relegation as they are placed 10th, one place above the two bottom places that lead to the lower division.

RESULTS

Al Wasl 2 Sharjah 1

Al Wahda 0 Al Shabab 0