Coronado nets double as Sharjah edge Al Nasr to maintain perfect start

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

SHARJAH: Maintaining their perfect start to the new season, Sharjah edged past Al Nasr 2-1 at the Sharjah Stadium to collect their sixth straight win in Arabian Gulf League on Friday.

Igor Coronado scored double in the Sharjah’s victory as The King maintained their spot at top of standings, while Al Nasr succumbed to their first defeat of the season to remain on 13 points.

Al Nasr came close to breaking the deadlock on the 15-minute mark, when Ryan Mendes’ pass found Sebastian Tagliabue, but Salem Sultan made a goal-line save to deny Tagliabue's effort.

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Few minutes later, Sharjah were awarded a penalty after Welliton Soares was brought down inside the box. Coronado stepped up and converted the ball past Al Nasr keeper Ahmed Shambih to put the King 1-0 up.

Sharjah were almost reduced to 10 men when Caio Lucas was shown a red card seven minutes before the break. However, the referee revised his decision after reviewing the VAR and changed it to a yellow card.

Just after the restart, Sharjah missed a golden opportunity to double their lead when Igor Coronado’s freekick rattled off the woodwork.

Mendes also came close to leveling the scoreline a few minutes later, but his effort was denied by Shaheen Abdulrahman.

Al Nasr, however, found the back of the net two minutes before the one-hour mark. After an impressive teamwork effort and an exchange of passes inside the box, Diaa Saba fired a powerful effort in the bottom corner of the net to make the scoreline 1-1.

Sharjah thought they regained their lead in the 68th minute through Welliton Soares, but his goal was ruled out for an offside.

They did net a second goal though 10 minutes later after they were awarded a second penalty for a handball against Tariq Ahmed. Coronado made no mistake from the spot again to regain Sharjah’s lead.