Al Jazira held on to achieve a 2-1 victory away at Sharjah in the Arabian Gulf League and reclaim second spot on their own in the table.
Al Shabab had heaped the pressure on the Abu Dhabi club in the race for second spot with a 1-0 win over Fujairah on Sunday that drew them level on points.
But, despite a strong second-half fightback from the hosts at the Sharjah Stadium, Jazira managed to pick up three vital points.
The result puts Al Jazira on 48 points, three ahead of Shabab and seven behind champions Al Ain.
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The visitors needed just five minutes to get their noses in front as UAE international striker Ali Mabkhout toe-poked a finish past national team colleague Mohamed Yousif in the Sharjah goal for his 14th League strike of the season.
Five minutes before the interval, Al Jazira had made it 2-0 and this time it was Mabkhout who put the AGL’s top striker Mirko Vucinic through to score, taking his tally for the season to 25 goals.
A double substitution for the hosts at half-time saw youngsters Yousif Saeed and Muhain Khalifa enter the fray in place of Eisa Ahmed and Hamad Ibrahim.
The changes appeared to have the desired impact as Sharjah looked markedly improved.
They were handed some hope when a penalty was awarded for a foul on Marion Silva, and it was the club’s top scorer Wanderley who converted the spot kick past Ali Khaseif in the 79th minute.
BJazira had to resort to some meaty challenges in the closing stages to prevent Sharjah from scoring an equaliser, with a number of yellow cards issued for their troubles.
However, the home side could not find the net again and they sit 10th in the table with two games to go in the season.
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