Loss cuts Al Shabab's lead on top

Dubai: Al Ahli crushed leaders Al Shabab 4-0 in the Etisalat first division league's 14th stage at the Al Shabab Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium late on Friday night.

It was the second defeat for Al Shabab at the hands Al Ahli over the last seven days. Al Ahli had beaten them 3-1 in the President's Cup semifinals the other day.

The big win narrowed the gap between Al Ahli and Al Shabab to four points. Al Jazira are possibly the happiest at the news of Al Shabab's defeat, as the Abu Dhabi club are now one point adrift of Al Shabab after beating Hatta 3-0.

Al Shaab lost a good chance to get equal on points with Al Shabab at the top after they were held to a 2-2 draw by a fast- improving Al Nasr.

Al Shabab now have 28 points, followed by Al Jazira (27), Al Shaab (26), Al Ahli (24) and Sharjah (22). The title race became wide open following the defeat of Al Shabab as any of the five clubs can clinch the title with eight matches left for each of them.

The leaders, meanwhile, failed to change the trend of their losses to Al Ahli at the latter's home. It was the sixth year that Al Ahli did so.

Best form

Led by the Brazilian duo of Marcos Assunsao (scorer of the third goal) and Clederson Cezar, Al Ahli showed their best form in the league so far. Esmail Hammady, Faisal Khalil and his brother Ahmad scored the other three goals. Al Ahli dominated the match from the word go, putting the Al Shabab defence under continuous pressure. They could have scored more goals if their strikers had not lost a handful of sitters.

Al Shabab were suddenly off colour and didn't look like a team looking to win the league title. If they continue losing points, they will soon be out of the driver's seat and the lead will slip from their grasp.

After three defeats in the league and President's Cup, Sharjah returned to their winning ways by beating Al Wahda 1-0.

The defeat put the latter in the relegation zone and they will find the going tough in the coming weeks because they have to fight on two fronts: the domestic league and the Asian Champions League. A fact which is going to put a lot of pressure on the young players.

Al Shaab were, however, very lucky to win a point from Al Nasr in the 2-2 draw. Al Nasr were the better side and were unlucky to lose several scoring opportunities which could have made them winners.