Al Wahda edge hosts Sharjah in Etisalat

Al Wahda returned to the winning ways with a narrow 2-1 victory over hosts Sharjah at the Sharjah Stadium here on Saturday evening.

By Hisham Al Gizouli

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Sun 15 Apr 2012, 4:01 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 1:47 PM

After a goalless first half, Amer Omer broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute with a lovely rebound and substitute Saeed Al Kathiri increased the advantage to 2-0 in the 86th minute in a similar fashion before Marcelo sealed the consolation goal for Sharjah in the injury time.

“I don’t think it’s all over,” said a Sharjah player in a brief post-match conversation with Abu Dhabi Sports Channel. “There are four rounds remaining and we have every chance to maintain our pro-league status,” he said.

In fact, the defeat put many things at stake, including the chances of the club to avoid a possible relegation to the lower division of the national league for the second time in recent years.

Sharjah are tailing off the standings list with ten points and did nothing to make use of Friday’s 2-5 defeat of Dubai (11 points) at the hands of Al Ahli and the 1-3 home defeat of the Emirates (14 points) from Ajman. And they will have an uphill task when they face Dubai in Al Aweer in the 19th round of the competition before they host Al Ahli in a do-or-die clash at home in the 20th round. In the 21st and 22nd rounds they will play away from home against Ajman and Bani Yas respectively.

In another clash, Ajman continued their splendid performance with an easy 3-1 away victory over the Emirates in Ras Al Khaimah. Boris Kabi created the first goal for Oliveira in the 32nd minute and claimed a double in the 48th and 70th minutes before Diarra reduced the deficit to 1-3 from the spot in the 71st minute.

Jo Bonfrere and Kajuda at Sharjah Stadium

Al Wahda’s former Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere and Sharjah previous Portuguese manager Kajuda watched the match from the grandstand.

Confirmed reports said the two managers are on personal visit to the UAE and have nothing to do with any invitation or any kind of arrangements with any of the two clubs involved in the game.

sports@khaleejtimes.com


More news from