Al Shabab miss chance to pull closer to Al Ahli at top of Arabian Gulf League table

Al Wahda move up to fifth place in table with 3-1 defeat of Al Wasl

Al Shabab, in green, slumped to a 1-0 loss at Dubai Club in their Arabian Gulf League match at Dubai Sports and Cultural Club Stadium on March 28, 2014. Ashraf Umrah / Al Ittihad

DUBAI // After a frustrating 114-day wait for a win, the fans of last-place Dubai finally had something to celebrate on Friday night when their team defeated Al Shabab 1-0 for only their third league triumph of the season.

Dubai’s last league victory was in December in Round 9 of the Arabian Gulf League, when they beat Ajman 2-1. They had tallied only three points from their last 11 matches, slipping to the bottom of the table.

The arrival of Junior Dos Santos – Dubai's third coach of the season, after Martin Rueda and Umberto Barberis – seems to be turning things around. They returned with a point from Al Wasl in their previous game, and this win takes their tally to 13, as well as moving them up one spot in the table.

“Before I agreed to come here to Dubai, I looked at the team’s schedule and saw there will be no easy matches,” Dos Santos said. “But I still agreed to come here because I see a lot of potential in this team.

“We have some very good players and this team deserves to be among the top four or five in the league, not at the bottom of the points table.

“I have told this to the players as well. I told them we have seven matches remaining and we will have to play beyond our abilities in these matches to remain in the top division.

“Now we have five matches remaining and our target is to fight hard and try to win each one of those matches.”

The lone goal of the game came in the 47th minute, when captain Gilles Yapi Yapo converted from the penalty spot after substitute Waleed Khaled, who had an impressive game after coming on as a replacement for the injured Hassan Abdulrahman in the 23rd minute, was brought down by Mohammed Marzooq just inside the penalty box.

Shabab finished the game with nine men as their frustrations boiled over towards the end.

Abdullah Eissa and Essam Dahi were sent off in the 88th minute – the first for an angry confrontation with the referee and the second for a foul on Yapi Yapo.

Shabab's defeat leaves Al Ahli with a nine-point advantage at the top of the table, and two more wins for the leaders could bring the title-race to an end.

"We will continue to play hard and see what the future has in store for us," said Marcos Paqueta, the Shabab coach.

Tagliabue double spurs Al Wahda to defeat of Al Wasl

Al Wahda moved up to fifth place in the Arabian Gulf League table on Friday night with a convincing 3-1- win over Al Wasl at Al Nahyan Stadium in the capital.

Argentine striker Sebastian Tagliabue was on hand to grab two goals for the home side. He opened the scoring in the eighth minute from a pass by Damian Diaz, and Al Wasl were always playing catch up from there on.

With 15 minutes left, he ensured all three points stayed with Wahda with his second of the evening. Ismail Matar scored a late third goal for Wahda.

Ricardo Oliveira pulled a consolation goal back for Wasl with a 95th-minute penalty after Wahda goalkeeper Ali Mohammed was sent off for a second yellow card.

Wahda moved past Al Nasr to fifth place with 33 points, while Wasl fell to 11th with 21 points.

Wasl’s defeat also resulted in Ajman climbing to 10th spot, which put some light between them and the relegation zone, after they came out on top of a six-goal thriller against Al Dhafra.

Bakari Kone opened the scoring for Ajman, but the home side struck twice through Senegalese striker Makhete Diop and Morocco’s Kamel Chafni to lead 2-1 at half time.

Two goals in six minutes – a 57th-minute Abdullah Hassan penalty and a Boris Kabi strike – turned the game in Ajman’s favour. Mansour Abbas then made it 4-2 for Ajman in injury time, before Dhafra had Ahmed Sulaiman sent off for a professional foul near the end.

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