Shabab Al-Ahly topped the ADNOC Professional League, following its victory over its host Al Ain with a clean goal in the postponed match between them from the seventh round, which was held yesterday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
Shabab Al-Ahly raised its score to 29 points, one point ahead of Al-Sharjah, which fell to second place, while Al-Ain’s score froze at 19 points, taking a big step back from the struggle for the league title by being in sixth place.
Al Ain’s coach, the Portuguese Leonardo Jardim, attracted attention in his first match against his former team, Shabab Al Ahly, which he led in the season before last to win the league title.
Al-Ain rushed offensively from the beginning of the match and exerted strong pressure on Shabab Al-Ahly’s defence, so Sufyan Rahimi missed the first dangerous scoring opportunity, which was blocked by goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali.
The advantage then shifted to Shabab Al-Ahly, who knew how to confuse Al-Ain’s midfield and defense thanks to advanced pressure.
The visiting team was able to exploit the gap on the right side of Al-Ain, and Bala was able to score the only goal of the match with a magic pass to Serdar Azmoun, who preceded the leader’s defense and diverted the ball into the goal (34).
The opportunity came on a silver platter for Al Ain to equalize by winning a penalty kick, which Laba Kodjo took, but Shabab Al-Ahly goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali, who was one of the stars of the match, saved it.
Al-Zaeem’s performance differed greatly in the second half, and he had many opportunities to reach Shabab Al-Ahly’s net, but he clashed with the brilliance of goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali.
Sardar Azmoun almost scored the second goal when he was alone with the goal, but he was slow in scoring, so the match ended with Shabab Al-Ahly winning by an unanswered goal.
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