Bani Yas hand Sharjah first loss; Al Dhafra win

Sharjah: Bani Yas netted late goal to beat Sharjah 1-0 at Bani Yas Stadium in matchweek 10 of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL), marking the King’s first league defeat of the season.

Sharjah threatened Bani Yas over the full 90 minutes and their players proved dangerous in the final third of the pitch, yet they failed to find the back of the net.

The first chance came from Sharjah forward Welliton Soares in the 26th minute when he slotted home following an assist from Caio Lucas in the penalty area, but his effort was ruled out for an offside.

Soares threatened again in the 31st minute after he fired a shot from inside the penalty area but was blocked by Bani Yas keeper Fahad Al Dhanhani.

Bani Yas came close to breaking the deadlock when Hassan Al Moharrami’s 71st-minute header went inches wide of the net.

The Sky Blues netted what turned out to be the winner 10 minutes from time through Ahmed Abunamous who dribbled past five Sharjah players before firing the ball into the back of the net.

Bani Yas raised their tally to 19 points in fourth place, while Sharjah remained on top temporarily with 23 points.

Elsewhere, Al Dhafra returned to winning ways when they defeated Hatta 1-0 on Thursday night at Hamdan Bin Zayed Stadium.

Hatta looked more dangerous in the opening minutes of the first half, while Al Dhafra put in a balanced performance.

Al Dhafra looked better in the second half and their efforts paid off as Denilson Pereira netted the winning goal in the 61st minute. His teammate Benjamin Ayim sent an accurate pass in the penalty area and Denilson fired the shot into the back of the net.

Al Dhafra now raised their tally to 15 points after earning their fourth win of the season, while Hatta remained at the bottom of the standings with one point only.

Meanwhile, the UAE Pro League Technical Committee held its fifth periodic meeting for the 2020-2021 season via video conferencing on Thursday. The meeting was headed by UAEPL Board Member and Chairman of the Technical Committee Hassan Taleb Al Marri and was attended by all board members.

The committee discussed the upcoming challenges, topped with the AFC not determining the AFC Champions League competition system as well as the fixtures dates, after postponing it to April 2021.

In addition, the committee also discussed the national team training camps, as the Technical Committee was keen to provide full support for the national team’s technical staff and the National Teams Committee.

The Technical Committee announced a number of decisions, including adopting the winter time starting matcheek 12 of the AGL, as the first set of matches will be held at 5pm, while the second set of games will then kick off at 8pm.