Laba scores four as Al Ain hit Fujairah for seven; Sharjah held

Kodjo Laba scored four goals as Al Ain thrashed Fujairah 7-1 at Fujairah Stadium in matchweek 5 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday.

After a slow start to the game, Al Ain got their first chance in the 26th minute when Bandar Al Ahbabi found Laba inside the box, but the Togolese striker’s header missed the target by a narrow margin.

The Wolves shocked Al Ain as they broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, through Jhonnattann Benites who received Fernando Gabriel’s through pass and drilled into the back of the net.

The Boss responded just three minutes after conceding, when Ahbabi’s crossed freekick was headed brilliantly by Laba to make it 1-1 going into the halftime break.

In the 53rd minute, Ahbabi registered his second assist of the night. The number 11 sent an in-swinging cross from a corner kick that was converted calmly by Mohanad Salem to gift the visitors the lead for the first time.

Al Ain kept pushing forward and in the 57th minute, Ahbabi was once again at heart of the attack when he controlled the ball up the right flank and dribbled skillfully past Fujairah’s defender before sending a low cross towards Laba, who slotted past Abdullah Al Tamimi with a deft touch.

Al Ain continued to hammer the opposition, as Caio Canedo scored the fourth for his side in the 66th minute. The Brazilian converted another Ahbabi corner into the back of the net.

Just three minutes later, Ahbabi and Laba combined once again. The forward finished the ball from a close range to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-1.

Around the 80-minute mark, super sub Jamal Maroof received the ball near the edge of the box and cut inside before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Laba ended his impressive performance in style, as he changed Maroof’s miscued shot direction with a clever backheel flick that left Al Tamimi helpless.

The win takes Al Ain to the second spot with 12 points ahead of their anticipated clash against Al Jazira on Nov. 1.

Earlier, reigning champions Sharjah scored two late goals to snatch a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Hatta.

Hatta shocked Sharjah early in the game, taking the lead in the 19th minute. Lahej Saleh sent an accurate cross towards Cristian Lopez, who headed into the back of Adel Al Hosani’s net.

The hosts extended their lead just six minutes later, when Abdullah Khamis received the ball up the left flank and dribbled past a Sharjah defender before sending a perfectly-executed ground cross to Lopez, who was left with a simple tap-in from a close range.

Sharjah maintained possession but failed to create any real threats on Hatta’s goal as the home side maintained organized and composed defence.

Igor Coronado was once again the centre of attention for the King, when he received the ball on the right wing and went inside the box, but, his powerful strike was brilliantly saved by Darwish Mohammad in the 70th minute.

The visitors finally pulled one back in the third minute of injury time, through Coronado who capitalised on a defensive howler after a misplaced pass by Hatta’s defender and smashed the ball into the top corner to make it 2-1.

Less than one minute later, Sharjah scored the equaliser. Coronado cut inside the box from the left flank and found Ricardo Gomes with a clever cross, the latter converted calmly to extend Sharjah’s unbeaten run to five games.

After the win, Sharjah remain on top of the league table with 13 points.

Manwhile, Bani Yas and Khorfakkan shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, at Bani Yas Stadium.

Khorfakkan got off to a fiery start, as they nearly opened the scoring in the seventh minute, when Ahmed Ibrahim found Temurkhuja Abdukholikov with an accurate cross, however, the latter’s header was denied by the woodwork.

Around the 25th minute, Sultan Al Shamsi released Pedro Conde behind the Eagles’ backline. The Spaniard’s crossing effort was denied by Mohamed Yousef before reaching Bani Yas’ player.

The Sky Blues maintained possession but failed to create any real threats until the referee blew the half-time whistle.

On the contrary, Bani Yas started the second half with a bang as they took the lead in 51st minute. Shamsi went up the left blank and sent a high cross towards Conde, whose first time strike nestled into the back of the net after a huge deflection off Robson De Paula.

It only took the visitors four minutes to level things up, when Ibrahim advanced up the right wing and sent a defence-splitting cross to Bismark, whose powerful flying header left Yousef helpless.

Eight minutes before the fulltime whistle, Khorfakkan nearly took the full points home after Raphael Guimaraes’ right footed effort cannoned off the crossbar following a great solo run.