Football: Al Shabab ease past Bani Yas

Dubai - The Arabian Gulf League encounter in Mamzar, Dubai on Friday night, proved to be entertaining in the first half

Al Shabab made things look easy on a night when visitors Bani Yas who were not outplayed lost to a better drilled squad.
The Arabian Gulf League encounter in Mamzar, Dubai on Friday night, proved to be entertaining in the first half when the hosts went ahead with finely executed goals by the crafty Tomas de Vincenti and Ruud Boijmans, and The Hawks kept this lead intact for three more points with a 2-0 victory.
Elsewhere in Fujairah, Dibba were held goalless by Ras Al Khaimah's Emirates.
Clinical finishing led the way to a beautiful opening goal where sheer skills of the home side saw the visitors' defence get pierced.
In the 15th minute, Luvannor Henrique made a devastating right flank move to get past three players before feeding Vincenti with a grounder. The latter cleverly used his inside foot and heel in one movement to dodge past a Bani Yas defender, and turned left before chipping into an empty net while on the run (1-0).
Henrique's immense dual role skills as an attacker and as a playmaker was evident in the 31st minute when he did all the spadework down the middle before slipping in a wonderful pass for the burly Boijmans to trap and send home a grounder past the onrushing Ahmed Juma, the visiting goalie (2-0).
Bani Yas retaliated soon enough for the home citadel to come under pressure on two occasions. In the 35th, Mark Milligan, always a menace to the defences in the league with his superb skills, was be able to split the home midfield formations. On one occasion he came up with a clean ground pass on the inside and Joaquin Lerrivey found the ball and sped towards the goal before he was pulled up for a doubtful offside.
In within two minutes time, the white shirted Capital men were on another raid which proved abortive, this time Abdulla Alnoubi laying out a beautiful carpet feeder which Milligan took possession of before trying to past the lone defender and the goalkeeper.
Bani Yas a were clearly the better side with more purposeful thrusts on both flanks early in the second half but Shabab defended well to thwart most of the opponents' well constructed midfield initiatives. A pile driver off a free kick by Faisal Alantali missed the mark just by inches off the vertical post in the 65th minute.
Two minutes later Larrivey was close to reducing the margin when his left foot curler from a free kick was deflected out by his teammates.
Vincenti was close to scoring in the 68th minute, and going by his standards should have put the hosts in a commanding position. When placed about 20 yards from the goal line, he let go a volley off a cross from the right, and much to the relief of Juma under the Bani Yas bar and the beaten Bani Yas defence, the ball curled out, just wide of the right vertical.
moni@khaleejtimes.com