Sharjah hit Al Wasl for five to stay unbeaten

Igor Coronado scored twice and assisted once as Sharjah thrashed Al Wasl 5-1, at Zabeel Stadium in matchweek 4 of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL).

Sharjah started in an electrifying fashion, as they broke the deadlock in the 24th minute when Mohamed Al Shehhi found Igor Coronado inside the box with an accurate cross, that the Italian headed into the back of the net.

Coronado doubled his tally in the 38th minute, when Al Hasan Saleh went up the left flank and sent a low cross towards the number 10, who was left with a simple tap in from a close range, to make it 2-0.

The King continued to push forward and just three minutes later, Ryan Mendes received the ball inside the box after a quick counter attack. The winger slotted the ball into the far corner to extend his side’ lead.

In the second half, Sharjah carried on from they left and five minutes past the one-hour mark Coronado controlled a perfectly executed long through pass up the left flank, before going past Al Wasl’s defender with a clever feint and sending an accurate low cross towards Ricardo Gomes, whose diving header hit the post and went into the back of the net.

10 minutes before the fulltime whistle, Fabio De Lima reduced the deficit for the Cheetahs, when he converted Ahmed Al Ebri crossed ball with a tricky first time left footed volley.

Sharjah responded immediately through Marcus Vinicius, whose long range right footed screamer left Mohamed Al Bairaq helpless in goal to restore the four-goal lead in the 83rd minute.

After the win, Sharjah cement their position on top of the league table with the full mark and will face Hatta next week. Meanwhile, Al Wasl remain at the league’s rock bottom with one point ahead of their encounter against Al Dhafra in matchweek 5 of the league. Meanwhile, the UAE Pro League has signed a strategic partnership with leading mobile video platform TikTok to distribute and promote UAE football content, becoming the first sports partner of the company in the Middle East and North Africa region.

A leading destination for short-form mobile videos, TikTok aims to inspire creativity and bring joy to its global audience of over 1 billion users.

The app, launched in 2016, is recognised as the world’s fastest growing app. In the UAE, TikTok is deeply invested in fostering a secure and positive in-app environment for the wellbeing of all users in line with the UAE government’s ongoing commitment to happiness and safety.

The UAE Pro League joins a growing list of international sports organisations taking to TikTok to promote their content, including the likes of La Liga, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Launched in August 2019, the UAE Pro League’s verified channel on TikTok (@AGLeague) has attracted 7,000 followers and its videos have been viewed over 3 million times and received 45,000 likes.

“At the UAE Pro League, we are glad with this agreement which we view as part of strategic vision aimed at expanding global reach of the Arabian Gulf League,” said Waleed Al Hosani, CEO of the UAE Pro League.

“Video content is at the heart of our plans for growth in the digital space, and in Tiktok, we now have a partner with a billion users and the fastest app growth rate. This will enable us to tap into a new global audience while also enhancing the digital interaction experience for our existing fans.”