Al Shabab see off Dhafra

Dubai - The hosts halt 7-match winless streak

Al Shabab put the full stop to an unwanted statistic by beating Al Dhafra in the 24th round of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday night.
The Hawks worked off a solitary goal win at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium to halt a winless streak stretching back to February.
And the man who changed the fortunes for the Al Mamzar club was 22-year-old striker Saad Khamis Saad, whose 15th minute goal, separated the two sides.
Al Shabab have endured a forgettable season and have been languishing mid-table. They were in the midst of a poor run despite Miroslav Djukic taking over the reins following Fred Rutten's axing in January.
Al Shabab's last win had come in January, a 4-2 victory away to Bani Yas. Since then, The Hawks have lost to Emirates, defending champions Al Ahli, Al Ain, drew with Dibba, lost to Al Nasr, drew with Hatta and lost to champions-elect Al Jazira.
The side had come close to arresting the slide against Hatta but a penalty in stoppage time by Samuel Rosa, put paid to their hopes after they had gone ahead through Mohammad Juma.
Al Shabab had also lost to Al Ahli in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup.
The Hawks were again without their injured striker Henrique Luvannor but they overcome that with a fighting display against Al Dhafra.
There were a few chinks, but not glaring enough, and they would have heaved a huge sigh of relief following this win.
Al Shabab went ahead on 15 minutes with the young forward Saad Khamis Saad making his way into the box before nut-megging goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan Alnasri.
Al Dhafra kept threatening right through for the equaliser but the Al Shabab defence managed to soak the pressure.
Goalscorer Saad Khamis Saad couldn't see off the game as he was substituted following an injury, on 76 minutes.
Al Shabab could have doubled the lead with seven minutes left on the clock but Rashed Hassan, who had come on for Saad, fired his grounder straight into Abdulla Sultan Alnasri.
Al Dhafra came on 85 minutes but goalkeeper Salem Abdulla did well to hold on to a lopping and tricky header from Abdulrahman Yousaf.
Al Dhafra are seventh with 32 points, while Al Shabab are eighth with 29 points.