5-star Shabab Al Ahli rout Fujairah; Khorfakkan and Hatta share spoils

Shabab Al Ahli romped to an impressive 5-1 victory over Fujairah at Rashid Stadium in matchweek 2 of the Arabian Gulf League on Friday.

The home side started in an electrifying fashion, and were already 1-0 up after six minutes. Henrique Luvannor latched on the rebound after Yousef Naser’s initial header was blocked by Abdulla Al Tamimi to give his side the lead.

Just 10 minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead through Mohammad Juma.

The 22-year-old advanced towards the box and drilled a powerful shot into the bottom corner making it 2-0.

The guests got back into the game as they pulled one back in the 35th minute.

Khalil Khameis sent an in-swinging crossed free-kick inside Shabab Al Ahli’s box towards Humaid Abdulla, who converted with weak diving header past Majed Humaid.

Around the 70-minute mark, Shabab Al Ahli extended their lead even further thanks to an own goal from Yasser salem, who finished De Sousa’s ground cross into the back of his own net.

Despite their 3-1 lead, the home side kept pushing forward for more. Davide Mariani scored his side’s fourth of the night just three minutes later, as he finished Ahmed Khalil’s short pass with a perfectly-executed right-footed shot that left Tamimi helpless.

In the dying moments of the game, Mariani turned from scorer to provider. The Swiss sent a well-placed crossed corner kick towards Yousef Naser, who converted with a towering header, making it 5-1.

Shahab Al Ahli replace Sharjah on top of the table with the full mark ahead of their anticipated encounter against Al Jazira. Meanwhile, Fujairah sit sixth with three points and will face newly promoted side Khorfakkan in matchweek 3.

In another match, Raphael Guimaraes de Paula’s screamer was cancelled out by Abdulla Kazim’s strike as Khorfakkan drew 1-1 with Hatta at Kalba Union Sports and Cultural Club.

The game got off at a slow start, as it took Khor fakkan 22 minutes to threaten Hatta through Bismark Ferreira, who cut inside but his left-footed low strike went just wide near the left post.

Hatta had to wait until five minutes before the halftime whistle to respond, when fullback Abdullah Khamis went up the left flank and sent a brilliant cross towards Cristian Lopez, however, the Spaniard’s flying header cannoned off the crossbar.

The Eagles broke the deadlock less than one minute after the restart. Raphael Guimaraes received the ball in the midfield and unleashed a powerful long range screamer that nestled into the back of Darwish Mohammad’s net.

Abdulla Kazim leveled things up in the 68th minute, when he got at the end of a long cross inside the box before dribbling past the defender with a clever feint and slotted into the bottom corner.

Hatta and Khorfakkan collected their first point in the 2019/20 season, and currently occupy the eighth and ninth spots, respectively.

Earlier, after going 1-0 down against Al Nasr, Ajman earned a 3-1 comeback win at home on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Al Ain came from behind to defeat Al Wasl 3-1. The game got off to relatively quiet start with no real goalscoring chances being created in the early minutes of the game.

Welliton gave the hosts a 1-0 lead on the quarter-hour mark. Fernando Gaibor’s effort off Ali Saleh’s cross was initially saved by Khalid Eissa, but the rebound fell to the Brazilian forward who tapped the ball home.

Al Wasl’s advantage didn’t last long as only three minutes later, Tsukasa Shiotani leveled the scoreline for Al Ain.

Al Wasl’s defense failed to clear the ball following a corner-kick, as it fell to the Japanese defender who sent a powerful effort from the edge of the box to make it 1-1.

Just after the restart, Saleh came close to regaining Al Wasl’s lead off a counter attack, however, Saeed Juma cleared the ball to keep the game tied at 1-1.