Sharjah will bounce back, vows Anbari; Al Wasl, Al Dhafra win

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Al Dhafra rallied to beat Hatta 2-1, extending their winning streak to three games on Thursday.  Lahej Saleh Haboush put Hatta ahead with a ninth-minute goal. In the second–half, Joao Pedro scored two goals in 69 and 84 minutes respectively to guide Al Dhafra to victory.

Elsewhere, Al Wasl trounced Bani Yas 5-1. Lima scored three goals in 13th, 32nd and 68th minutes to lead the Al Wasl charge. He was well assisted by Fernando Gabor, who along with other foreign import Welliton, was also on the target. Bani Yas’ lone goal was scored by Luiz Antonio.

Meanwhile, Sharjah coach Abdul Aziz Anbari vowed to bounce back after their 2-1 loss against Al Wahda in a Round 12 match of the Arabian Gulf League on Wednesday.

“I thank Allah first of all and congratulate Al Wahda on their victory. I hope to fix the problem during the upcoming three-week break. We will try to recover and come back strongly,” said Anbari.

Al Wahda inflicted second straight defeat of the season on Sharjah after the latter’s unbeaten streak of 10-games in the league was halted by Al Dhafra in the previous round.

Defending champions Sharjah spurned the chance to topple Shabab Al Ahli from the top of the standings and remained second with 24 points from twelve games with seven wins, three draws and two consecutive losses. Anbari ruled out any complacency had crept into the team after a long 10-match unbeaten run.

“We were never complacent, we always try hard in every game. We are missing the services of three main players due to injuries and suspensions, which is hurting the team’s performance,” he informed.

“We also need a winger urgently either any local guy or a foreigner. I will raise this issue with the management in the winter break,” he added.

Sharjah, who looked unbeatable after a stellar start to the season in which they stretched their unbeaten run to 10 games in the league, were not even a pale shadow of themselves.