Dubai: Henrique Luvannor scored the deciding goal to help Shabab Al Ahli Dubai to an entertaining 3-2 win over Al Wasl in their seventh round action of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL), late on Wednesday.

Winners against Kalba and Dibba in their last two matches following the replacement of Chilean Jose Luis Sierra with Argentinean Rodolfo Arruabarena, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai continued with their resurgence to take nine points from three consecutive wins and a tied third place with Al Ain with an identical 13 points.

On the other hand, Al Wasl continued with their downward spiral crashing to their third successive loss in as many rounds to languish in an unfamiliar-looking eighth place with that many points.

After absorbing early pressure from the home side, it was Al Wasl opening the scoring following a snap counter-attack from the Cheetahs. But that was only after goalkeeper Yousuf Al Za’abi had kept Al Wasl in the game with saves off Diaz (second minute) and Ayovi (23rd). And then off a snap counter, Al Wasl got the best opportunity to take the lead when Abdul Aziz Haikal brought down Abdul Rahman Ali inside the area.

Caio Caneda, who stepped forward to take the penalty sent his kick into the roof and give the visitors a much-needed reprieve. But that only pushed Shabab Al Ahli Dubai into full attack mode. They didn’t have to wait for long as Salmeen Khamis was brought down as he went for a header and Emiliano Vecchio coolly sent Yousuf the wrong way for the equalizer from the resultant penalty.

The home team took the lead for the first time in the 55th minute when Al Wasl’s Korean defender Oh Ban-suk miscued a cross by Walid Abbas into his own goal. The latest Al Wasl recruit from Korea made amends for his team in the 72nd when he darted in to nudge a Caio Canedo free kick past Majid Nasser.

Just when it looked like the two teams were headed towards split points, substitute Luvannor collected a long ball from Esmail Al Hammadi and slammed in a left footer in the 81st minute to give Shabab Al Ahli Dubai full points.

RESULT

Shabab Al Ahli Dubai x Al Wasl 3-1