Fujairah trounce Al Shaab

Hassan Matouk of Fujairah and Calio Dos Santos fight for the ball.

 Fujairah cruised to a well-deserved 3-0 home victory over promoted Al Shaab in the second round of the Arabian Gulf League at the Fujairah Stadium on Saturday night.
"It's a big result that has erased the bad start we had in the competition after the humiliating 8-1 defeat at the hands of Al Ahli in the first round of the championship," said Fujairah's keeper Mohammed Salem in a post-match chat.
However, Fahad Sabeel scored an own goal while Madjid Madjid Bougherra and Patrick Eze struck for the home team to claim a crucial home win and earn full points from a tough encounter.
While Fujairah moved slightly up the table with three points in two starts, the Commandos were rooted at the bottom of the standings with zero points, just ahead of Dibba Al Fujairah on goal difference.
"We need to improve," said Al Shaab player Talal Mubarak. "We have been doing very well to regain our pro-league status and the time has come to understand that unless we work hard, nothing could be achieved and we may face again the inevitable drop to the lower class.
"I think Al Shaab deserve to establish itself as a premier league side just like before and this requires us to do more," he added.
Al Shaab came very close to scoring in the 38th minute, but Matias' claim for a penalty was not entertained by the referee who turned a blind eye after the striker was blocked by Fujairah's Ibraheim Alalawi.
But, Fahad Sabil broke the deadlock for the opponents when the Al Shaab defender inadvertently scored an own goal with only one minute to go for the half-time whistle.
Lebanese scoring machine Hassan Maatouk found the back of the net early in the second half to double the score with a lovely first-time finish of Bougherra's spoon-fed cross. That was in the 48th minute.
By the 72nd minute it was 3-0; Patrick Eze leaping to fire a bullet header beyond Al Shaab goalkeeper Mohammed Hammadi off a long ball from Ibraheim Alalawi to extend the lead for Ivan Hasek's side.
Two minutes later Al Shaab were awarded a penalty as Bougherra was adjudged to have felled Michael Laurent N'dri, and it was the Frenchman who stepped up to take the spot kick in an attempt to get the visitors back in the game, but Fujairah goalkeeper Mohammad Salem got down low to turn the penalty kick round the post and maintain a clean sheet.
Things got worse for Al Shaab as half-time substitute Maher Jassim received a straight red card for a two-footed challenge in the 90th minute, and the game ended in a 3-0 home win.