Villanueva's virtuoso in Shabab success over Sharjah

Dubai - The Chilean playmaker impudently waltzed past three Sharjah players to double a lead given to them by Henrique Luvannor's first-half opener.

Carlos Villanueva's wonderstrike proved the difference for Al Shabab as they secured a 2-1 victory over Sharjah at Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium on Friday evening.
The Chilean playmaker impudently waltzed past three Sharjah players to double a lead given to them by Henrique Luvannor's first-half opener and thus make Wanderley Santos' spot-kick rather redundant in the final reckoning.
Caio Junior's side took the lead with the first real chance of note on 10 minutes. Azizbek Haydarov drilled a raking, cross-field pass over to the mercurial Moldovan Luvannor.
Saif Al Shemili misjudged the flight of the pass and duly got underneath it, allowing Luvannor to break in behind, cut across the face of the penalty box and drive an unerring right-foot finish past Mohamed Yousif in the Sharjah goal.
Shabab came close to a second strike some 10 minutes later; Luvannor getting to the byline and cutting back a curling cross for Jo, who just couldn't get his arching head onto the delivery.
The first water break on a hot and humid night came after half an hour and it was a timely intervention for the visitors, who looked decidedly devoid of ideas in the final third.
TV replays beamed back footage of Luvannor's goal and Al Shemili's slip-up and the look of agitation and exasperation etched all over Sharjah coach Paulo Bonamigo's face as it spoke volumes about just what he thought of the cheap concession.
The Hawks' new Brazilian striker Jo headed an Ahmed Suliman cross tamely at Yousif upon the resumption of play and Sharjah carved out their initial opening shortly thereafter.
Great interplay between another Brazilian debutant on show, Renato Caja, and Wanderley saw the ball worked out to the left wing and to Hamad Ibrahim.
He subsequently clipped in an inviting ball for Yousif Saeed, whose stooping header was kept out by Salem Abdulla at the far post and Manei Mohamed hurriedly cleared away the danger.
That slight sight of Shabab's goal gave the away team renewed impetus and the hosts had to sustain a period of pressure prior to threatening once again at the other end with the half-time interval looming.
Villanueva played in Jo, but Yousif had closed down the tight angle sufficiently enough by the time the former Everton and Manchester City striker got his boot to the ball.
Caja and Jo drew decent saves out of Abdulla and Yousif respectively with stinging second-half shots on the hour mark.
But, a moment of magic decided the destination of the three points with a quarter of this game to go.
There didn't appear to be too much on when Villanueva received possession from Luvannor, yet he somehow managed to dance all of the way through to coolly dispatch low beyond Yousif and into the far corner of the net.
Sharjah's night then went from bad to worse, with Shaheen Abdulrahman seeing a yellow card and then a red one in quick succession.
Wanderley then struck home a late penalty once Essa Mohammed was sent-off for bringing down second-half substitute Maicosuel right at the death, but it ultimately proved too little, too late.
alex@khaleejtimes.com