Sharjah maintain top spot in AGL; Al Nasr beat Kalba 2-0

Sharjah cemented their position on top the league table after an impressive 2-0 victory against Al Jazira at Mohammad in Zayed Stadium in matchweek 7 of the Arabian Gulf League.

After the win, Sharjah stayed on the top of the league table with 19 points.

Sharjah started on the front foot, as superstar Igor Coronado received the ball inside the box, however, his right footed shot was denied by Ali Khaseif in the 10th minute.

The King continued to pile up pressure and around the 20-minute mark, Otabek Shukurov got at the end of a loose ball near the edge of the box after a poor clearance by Musallem Fayez. The Uzbek smashed it past Khaseif with a brilliant first time right footed volley.

In the final moments of the first half, Omar Juma advanced towards the box and squared the ball to Marcus Meloni, however, the number 22’s right footed strike was stopped by Khaseif, to end the first half as a 1-0 lead for Sharjah.

The Pride of Abu Dhabi were close to equalising the scoreline in the 51st minute. Omar Abdulrahman sent an in-swinging cross from the corner kick to Ali Mabkhout, whose flying header went just wide.

20 minutes before the fulltime whistle, the hosts wasted another chance to get back into the game, when Khalfan Mubarak sent a crossed freekick inside the box to Mourad Batna, whose header was saved cleverly by Adel Al Hosani.

Al Nasr extended their winning run to four games after defeating Kalba 2-0 . Kalba were first to threaten the Blues, when Yaseen Al Bakheet dribbled past Al Nasr’s backline to find himself in a one-on-one situation with Ahmed Shambeih, who blocked the Jordanian’s right footed effort in the 17th minute.

Al Nasr responded in the 22nd minute through Brandley Kuwas. The winger’s strike was denied by Jamal Al Sarrah, to keep the game deadlocked.

The Blues continued to push forward and around five minutes past the 30-minute mark. Kuwas went up the right flank and sent the ball towards Esteban Pavez, who slotted it calmly into the bottom corner, to make it 1-0 into halftime.

In the second half, Al Nasr carried on from where they left as they doubled their lead through Toze, who was left with a simple tap in from a close range to convert Alvaro Negredo’s defence-splitting ground cross in the 60th minute.

The hosts continued to control the gameplay and just three minutes later, they nearly scored the third of the night, as Pavez got at the end of a loose ball near the edge of the box, but his stunner cannoned off the cross bar.

Ricardo Valente scored to gift Hatta a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Fujairah at Fujairah Stadium on Friday. Hatta controlled the early stages of the game, as they maintained plenty of posession and pressed high up the pitch. In the 27th minute, the Tornado finally managed to translate their dominance, when Mahmood Qassim went up the right wing and squared the ball to Valente, who escaped his marker before smashing it into the top corner, to make it 1-0.