Sharjah look to consolidate top spot, Pakhtakor bounce back

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

A buoyant Sharjah will look to repeat their performance of the last match against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in their AFC Champions League match on Friday.

The hosts will look to consolidate their position on the top of their group with another stupendous performance against the same team whom they routed two days ago.

A resilient Sharjah produced a stupendous performance to trounce Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor 4-1 on Tuesday.  Khalid Bawazir, Salem Saleh, Caio and Luan Pereira were on target as an unstoppable Sharjah notched up the second victory of the tournament. Sharjah have already scored five goals in three matches so far in the tournament.

After the victory, Sharjah’s morale is sky high as they took a long stride towards the Round-of-16 qualification. The  leaders have procured seven points from three games with two wins and a draw.

“We hope to continue our performance in the rest of the matches. It is not easy to produce the same kind of performance in every match but we will try to carry on the winning momentum,” said Sharjah coach Anbari after their victory against Pakhtakor.

Sharjah got off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory against Air Force of Iraq in their opener which set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

“It is always good to begin a tournament on a winning note as it sets the tone for the remaining matches,” said Anbari.

Talismanic striker Caio has been instrumental in Sharjah’s winning run at the continental tourney. He was named man of the match in two successive matches.

Sharjah were held by Tractor of Iran in their second match to a goalless draw before drubbing Pakhtakor 4-1 in the third game.  

Anbari had also hinted at the possible return of Igor Cornado and Al Hasan Saleh into the squad for the next game.

“Hasan and Igor are very good players. They are already training with the team and showing good signs of recovery. We hope they will be available for the next game,” he added.

Sharjah will once again pin hopes on Caio to deliver a winning performance. Though their morale is high, they will have to avoid any complacency to maintain their unbeaten streak.

Pakhtakor coach heaped praise on Caio after the match, credited him with being the difference between the two teams.

“I think we played fairly well but Sharjah made the difference through one player and he decided the game. It was Caio who took the game away from us he played really well,” said Huistra.

Caio’s free-kick was denied by goalkeeper Sanjar Kuvvatov before Khaled Bawazir tapped in the rebound to break the deadlock. He then set up Salem Saleh for the second one and slotted home their third himself before Luan Pereira completed the rout late. Meanwhile, Pakhtakor will have to open their account in the tournament with a win to keep their hopes alive of advancing to the Round of 16.

The Uzbekistan team has not won a single game and are at the bottom of their group after two draws and a loss. Pakhatakor coach Pieter Huistra vowed to put up a better performance in the next match to remain afloat.

“All the games except this one were very close, but it is clear that Sharjah have a very good chance of going through. “We were already thinking about the next game after conceding four goals that is why I made few substitutions in the end to try our bench strength and give some match practice to the young players,” said Huistra.

Elsewhere, UAE’s other club Al Wahda will also look to extend their winning streak with a second straight victory against Al Rayyan of Qatar at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.

After getting off to a disappointing start with a loss followed by a draw, Al Wahda revived their campaign with a 3-2 victory in their third match against Al Rayyan. They were defeated by Persepolis and drew with FC Goa.

With the victory, they have moved to the second spot in the group with four points and stand a fair chance of advancing to the next round.

Al Wahda went two matches without scoring but having found their shooting boots, ten Cate will be expecting his players to seal another three points against Al Rayyan.