Football: Sharjah and Shabab dish out drab draw in AGL tie

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Football: Sharjah and Shabab dish out drab draw in AGL tie
Sharjah' s Fayez Juma and Luvannor Henrique of Al Shabab in action during the Arabian Gulf League match at Sharjah stadium on Friday.

Both teams were fresh from their wins over Al Wasl - The King beat the Cheetahs 4-2 in the President's Cup quarterfinals, while The Hawks won their Arabian Gulf Cup semis match against their Dubai rivals 2-0

By Clareto Monsorate

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Published: Fri 13 Jan 2017, 9:52 PM

Last updated: Sat 14 Jan 2017, 12:02 AM

 
sharjah - High-flying Sharjah and Al Shabab displayed a below-par performance in the second round of the Arabian Gulf League match after they failed to break the 0-0 deadlock.
Both teams were fresh from their wins over Al Wasl - The King beat the Cheetahs 4-2 in the President's Cup quarterfinals, while The Hawks won their Arabian Gulf Cup semis match against their Dubai rivals 2-0.
As such one expected fireworks at the Sharjah Club on Friday but whether it was over-confidence from the players or just lethargy, the match made for a yawning 90 minutes.
Even Shabab coach Fred Rutten admitted at the post match conference that he was disappointed with his players but was happy they came out with a clean sheet.
"We created more chances than Sharjah and should have got the three points. I'm disappointed but maybe this match was too close to the one we played against Al Wasl on Monday so maybe the players were exhausted," he said.
From the outset the players did look like they were struggling to find their bearings as the first 10 minutes was played at a snail's pace.
It looked as if the teams were lacking some motivation from the way Luvannor Henrique's weak shot in the 13th minute was directed straight at Sharjah goalkeeper Mohamed Yousef.
Next minute Nana Poku was a wee-bit late to reach a cross from Henrique with only a defender and Yousef at his mercy.
Sharjah's strikers Rivas and captain Adrian did the ground running but when near the top of the box they messed up. Al Hasan Saleh then released a superb cross for Rivas but before he could get his head to it goalkeeper Salem Abdulla left his charge to make a timely save.
However, Sharjah coach Jose Peseiro was modest enough to accept the result. Sharjah had conceded 26 goals from 13 matches before the Portuguese took over and felt at least the team did not lose.
"I accept the draw. We did create chances but so did Shabab. The first half was evenly balanced and in the first 10 minutes of the second half we were on the back foot but after that the players did well and we had more opportunities but could not score."
Shabab were lucky not to have gone down through a self goal when Tomas De Vincenti inadvertently headed a Yousif Saeed's free kick onto the post.
Shabab's best and clear chance to go into the lead came when in the 35th minute Henrique produced some silken touch with the ball as he chest-trapped it, side-stepped a defender, passed it to Poku who passed it back to Henrique, but the Brazilian's first try from close was blocked by Yousef and his second effort richocheted off a defender for a corner.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com


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