AL WAHDA 1 FUJAIRAH 0
Al Wahda - Amer Omar 5'
ABU DHABI // Jose Peseiro, the Al Wahda coach, said winning three points from a 1-0 win over Fujairah was a good result for them to consolidate their lead at the top of the Arabian Gulf League.
“We didn’t play really well in this game, but the most important thing was the result,” he said. “Fujairah is a good team and they played very well. We did a decent job, but it was not our best performance in the league. However, if we take the positives, the players have done well to win the game.”
Peseiro was without hard-working Moroccan midfielder Adil Hermach because of a one-match ban and brought in Ismail Matar, recalled for the national team, only for the last 10 minutes last night at the Al Nahyan Stadium.
“This is part of football. I trust my players in the squad,” he said. “We have to get used to this kind of situation, because you never know when a player will be injured or suspended.”
Amer Omar was credited with the goal when a fiercely struck shot from inside the area from Tawfeeq Al Hosani deflected off the midfielder for his fifth goal in eight league games.
“I would like to congratulate Amer for being selected to the National team and I am happy for him,” Peseiro said.
Abdulwahab Abdulqader, the Fujairah coach, said they deserved at least a point from the game.
“The early goal unsettled us. It was very early in the game and we were not well-organised,” he said. “Later on, we played better and were a lot more organised. We had our chances in the second half, but we unfortunately couldn’t score.
“We will try and fix some of our technical problems in the future. But I felt that we at least deserved a point from this game. The lack of experience in some of our players was the difference between the two teams.”
apassela@thenational.ae
EMIRATES 2 AL SHABAB 3
Emirates - Saleh 39, Henrique 54'
Al Shabab - Luvannor 18', Villanueva 78', Haydarov 80'
Late goals from Carlos Villanueva and Azizbek Haydarov lifted Al Shabab past host Emirates 3-2 yesterday. After Henrique Luvannor had given Al Shabab an early lead at the 18th minute, Alhusain Saleh levelled for Emirates 21 minutes later. Emirates took the lead at the 54th minute when striker Luiz Henrique fired past Shabab goalkeeper Salem Abdullah.
Shabab manager Caio Junior then reached to his bench to find a spark at the 67th minute, with Dawood Ali coming on for Abdullah Faraj, and the move paid off.
Dawood soon found Carlos Villanueva and the Chilean midfielder fired in the equaliser at the 78th minute. Haydarov then struck from long distance with 10 minutes remaining to give Al Shabab the advantage for good.
The win is Shabab’s second in a row and fifth on the season, and pulled them within three points of table-leading Al Wahda.
Emirates remain middle of the table after their second loss in a row.
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