In a game of few good scoring opportunities, Senghor's 61st-minute header in front of a crowd of about 1,500 ensured Baniyas started their Pro League campaign with a win and returned home with three valuable away points. It was a deserved win for Baniyas. They created the better of the chances and generally had a grip on the game. Shabab seemed a bit under-cooked and while Julio Cesar looked sharp, he lacked support from teammates.
For the visitors, Theyab Awana worked tirelessly on the wings and kept the Shabab defence on their toes with a number of impressive runs. Taking the pitch after just a short, 10-minute warm-up, the teams struggled to string together any worthwhile moves early on. Carlos Villanueva, Shabab's Chilean international, showed a few deft touches; Cesar had a couple of good runs for the home side. Amer Abdulrahman, the Baniyas playmaker, showed glimpses of his immense talent and his teammate Awana kept Shabab busy.
Genuine scoring opportunities were few, however. The earliest was Mohammed Ahmed's stinging volley in the 20th minute, which sailed just over the bar. Lamine Diarra had the best chance of the first half when he had only the Baniyas goalkeeper, Ayyoub al Marzouqi, to beat in the 37th minute, but he angled his shot wide. The action became a lot more exciting in the second half. Senghor had an opportunity to tap the ball in for Baniyas in the 52nd minute, but he shot the ball over. A swift counter followed and Cesar came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock.
It was Senghor, however, who finally found the net, rising high over the Shabab keeper, Salem Abdulla, to head Abdulrahman's cross into the net. A number of misses followed, but Baniyas never looked under threat of losing their one-goal cushion. @Email:arizvi@thenational.ae
