Sharjah back with a bang; Al Shabab on a roll

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Sharjah back with a bang; Al Shabab on a roll
Kalba's Sulaiman Yusuf and Al Shabab's Henrique Luvannor vie for the ball during their Arabian Gulf League match.

Dubai - South Korean Song Jin-hyung marked his Sharjah debut in style within four minutes from the start

By Ashwani Kumar

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Published: Fri 23 Sep 2016, 10:45 PM

Last updated: Sat 24 Sep 2016, 1:09 AM

Sharjah bagged first win of the League season with an emphatic win over Hatta at home on Friday night.
Goals from Song Jin-hyung, Adrian Mierzejewski, Muhain Khalifah and Jamal Ibrahim destroyed Hatta, who are yet to find their bearings.
It was a dream debut for the South Korean who marked his attendance in style within four minutes from the start. Stopper Obaid Raihan had no answer to a low shot from the Sharjah No. 14.
In the 23rd minute, it was turn of another new signing Ibrahim to make a name. Sharjah entered half-time with a two-goal advantage. After the break, substitute Khalifah came good with a 66th minute low-ranger to make it 3-0.
And in the dying moments, Mierzejewski made it four with a long range effort. Sharjah had lost their first game against Dubai club Al Shabab 2-1 and were due to post their first win.
Meanwhile, in the second game of the day, Al Shabab earned their second win as they prevailed over Kalba 2-1.
Goals from Tomas De Vincenti and Ruud Boijmans were enough to tame Hatta in their own backyard.
It was in the eighth minute that the Dubai club went ahead through De Vincenti.
Luvannor Henrique passed a near-perfect pass to the Argentine De Vincenti midfielder who swept a cross-goal finish into the far corner make it 1-0 up.
In the 36th minute, though, Kalba struck back as a defensive header from Mohammed Ayed fell straight to Mihai Alexandru, who hit the ball back across the face of goal for Bakary Kone to complete a simple finish from close range at 1-1 to tie the two sides going into the half-time break.
Into the second half, it was Al Shabab who regained their lead through winger Rashid Hassan. In the 62nd minute, he created the goal with a quick one-two with Dutch striker Ruud Boijmans, before firing a cross into the box for Boijmans to toe-poke past Kalba goalkeeper Ibrahim Essa to make it 2-1.
In the 77th minute, Kalba were handed a route back into the game as Al Shabab goalkeeper Salem Abdulla was penalised for bringing down Mihai Alexandru in the area, but the Romanian stepped up to take the spot-kick and blasted his effort over the bar as the visitors held onto their 2-1 lead.
Kalba fought hard but suffered their first defeat of the campaign.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com
 


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