Former Champions Sharjah ‘Two’ Good for Hosts Al Wasl

DUBAI - Sharjah beat hosts Al Wasl 2-0 at Zabeel Stadium at Al Wasl Club on Thursday night. The former champions raised their tally to 16 points and advanced to the seventh position.

By Hisham Al Gizouli

Published: Sun 14 Feb 2010, 12:43 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 4:06 AM

Abul Qader Abdullah broke the deadlock in the 27^th minute and Oliveira Marcelinho doubled the score-line in the 50^th minute.

The immediate reaction of the club management was the sacking of their Brazilian-born head coach Alexandre Borges Guimaraes. The Costa Rican moved the Middle East last season to start a new challenge, but its campaign came to a quick end. Guimaraes is the second victim of the second part of the UF-League after Al Nasr’s German coach Frank Pagesldorf who was shown the door last weekend.

However, Al Wasl’s hopes to close the gap with front runners were dented. The Yellows failed to continue their winning streak and went down 0-2 to Sharjah in front of their faithful fans.

“Following the defeat of Bani Yas by Al Nasr early in the afternoon, we were made to believe that Al Wasl have every chance to compete for a berth in the ACL. The team have been doing very well in the last two starts and we didn’t expect to lose at home,” said Al Wasl’s fan Mohammed Abdullah. “We will continue to cheer them and there’s still big hope to advance from the present position to finish fourth by the end of the season,” he said. Al Wasl have collected 20 points from 14 starts to settle at fifth, six points behind Bani Yas. “I think Bani Yas are now losing ground and we need to improve and everything will be fine,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Sharjah players celebrated the victory.

In another clash, Al Shabab beat hosts Al Dhafra 3-2 in the Western Region on Friday evening. Pedrao broke the deadlock in the 16^th minute and Mohammed Salem levelled for the home team in the 58^th minute. Two minutes later, Suroor Salem made it 2-1 and Renato added the third goal from the spot in the 80^th minute. Substitute Arthur Henrick reduced the deficit to 2-3 with four minutes to go.