Football: Al Nasr win; Sharjah snatch dramatic draw

Sharjah's Gelmin Rivas vie for ball with Al Wahda's Sultan Al Ghaferi.

Al Nasr and Al Dhafra were victorious on the night whereas Sharjah and Al Wahda shared points as three Arabian Gulf Cup matches were played on Sunday.
In the late match, Al Nasr beat Bani Yas 2-1 in an away match. Second-half goal from Abdelaziz Barrada and a penalty from Mahmoud Khamees saw the visitors prevail despite a late charge and a goal from Joaquin Larrivey at the Bani YAas Stadium.
With this win, Al Nasr move to second spot in Group B with nine points from four matches. Bani Yas continued at the bottom end and remain winless after four Cup matches under new coach Pablo Repetto. They had enjoyed the best chances on the night but were unlucky to be on the losing side.
In an early match, Sharjah summer recruit Gelmin Rivas broke Al Wahda hearts with an acrobatic goal in the 88th minute to earn 3-3 draw in the Group A match at the Sharjah Stadium.
The goal fest started in the 22nd minute when Polish midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski converted on a gift from Al Wahda defence.
It was against the run of play that Al Wahda struck twice. In the 44th minute, Sebastian Tagliabue converted a penalty and two minutes later Khaled Ba Wazir added a second through a free kick.
After the break, Sharjah scored in the 62nd minute. It was a beautiful play that saw Mierzejewski make it 2-2. But in the 85th minute, Tagliabue struck into the far corner to make it 3-2. In the next minute, Al Wahda were reduced to 10 men when Mohammed Al Dhahri got second yellow.
Two minutes later, Sharjah equalised through Rivas, who was first to connect onto a pass from the left flank. The back four were left watching him score a late equaliser.
Sharjah are now third in Group A with seven points and Al Wahda are sixth with three points.
Despite a last-gasp equaliser, the 'King' coach Giorgos Donis was 'unhappy' with the result. "We made silly mistakes and wasted easy chances," the Sharjah coach said at the press conference.
In another match, Al Wasl lost 1-0 to Al Dhafra but remained on top of the Group A.
At the Zabeel Stadium, Makhete Diop scored in additional time to eke out a win for the visitors. Thus, Al Dhafra move to second place with nine points, one less than Al Wasl.
The host had a difficult time containing Diop & Co., who were firing from all corners.
In the 87th minute, things got worse for Al Wasl as Hamad Al Bloushi was shown a straight red. And Diop made them pay with a late strike to secure three points for the capital club.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com