Today's Edition
Abu Dhabi (Aletihad)
Shabab Al Ahli rallied from a goal down to beat Sharjah 2-1 and clinch the UAE President’s Cup at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi after a frenzied final on Friday. Yuri Cesar proved to be the hero for the winners.
With this Shabab Al Ahli are now the most successful side in the tournament’s history, with 11 trophies compared to Sharjah’s 10.
It was a disappointing end for Sharjah fans who were expecting a positive result before their manager Cosmin Olaroiu takes up the national team manager’s role. The fans put up a massive scarf banner saying ‘Thanks Cosmin, we will miss you’ at the start of the game.
Shabab Al Ahli enjoyed 60% possession and had to claw back after Sharjah found the lead against the run of play. But the Dubai club were the tighter, well-oiled unit of the two rivals and managed to claw back.
Shabab Al Ahli start on the attacking note, but the defence held especially in marking danger man Guilerhme da Silva ‘Bala’. Sharjah’s made their first strong foray in the 14th minute and immediately reaped dividends.
Caio Lucas fed the Brazilian Luan running down the extreme left flank. The Brazilian crossed at the last minute to find the right-back Marcus Meloni, who floated into the centre unmarked and connected with the left foot for the lead.
Before the match, Shabab Al Ahli coach Paulo Sousa had praised his Serbian players, but after the first goal the veteran Luka Milojevic and Bogdan Planc were the first to receive yellow cards even though Sharjah relied on counter attacks through just couple of players.
In the injury time of the first half with six minutes added on, Sharjah’s Majed Ahmed comes tad late on a tackle on Cesar three metres outside the box for a yellow card which he obediently accepted. It was Cesar who took the free-kick, and a majestic one that dipped in nicely to leave goalkeeper stranded.
Both goals grazed the posts before finding the net. Sharjah survived a big scare just before the whistle when a stray cross ballooned and landed at the feet of Federico Cartabia, but two defenders slid in and closed him down.
Into the last quarter inside Sharjah’s half, Cesar came in from the right, had a one-two with a teammate and continued to the left edge of the box before angling in for the far post. Goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani, inexplicably, was more up than desired and had less time to react as the ball slipped past his fingers.
With five minutes to go, Sharjah had their best chance to find the equaliser when Caio beat the offside trap to feed Ben Al Arbi at the goalmouth. The latter did well to shake off three defenders but when he took the shot, he could not pierce through them.
