The referee chalks out Al Ain 3rd rightful goal.. Al Ain performs and Sharjah wins
Al Ain lost its matchweek 3 of the Arabian Gulf League by 3-2 in the thrilling match held at Al Sharjah Stadium on Thursday, 3rd October 2019.
The first half ended by a 1-1 draw. Al Ain scored through Bandar Al Ahbabi “40” and Laba Kodjo “51”, while Al Sharjah scored through Igor Coronado double goals “11, 83” and Salim Sultan “90+2”.
By this result, Al Ain sits third with six points after conceding their first defeat of the season. Meanwhile, Al Sharjah tops the league table with the full mark after three games.
As of the kickoff whistle of Ammar Al Junaibi, the game started quickly, and both teams did not give each other a time to test the waters. The players show an explicit determination to break the deadlock as of the early minutes of the match and take the lead as early as possible.
The Stands Contest
The intense competition between the two teams was not limited to the performance of the players in the field but moved to the stands of the stadium. Al Sharjah fans prepared a huge tifo composed of thousands of squares in white and red to draw the word the “Hero”. The response of the Ainawi fans was similar but in with the same style, but the squares looked more elegant in white and purple, displaying the word the “Boss” in a spectacular scene. Both fans did not stop chanting and cheering up both teams from the first minute until the end of the match.
The match started with a bang, as Sharjah was awarded a penalty kick after Igor Coronado got pulled down inside the box. The Italian sent the ball home from the spot to put his side 1-0 up in the 11th minute.
After conceding an early goal, the Boss tried to push forward to level things up. The “Boss” exerted high pressure by launching intensive offensive attempts from the depth and flanks, forcing the home team to retreat and adopt a tight defensive style of play to reduce the risk of the Boss attacks.
The Boss eventually did it five minutes before halftime “40”, Mohamed Abdel Rahman released Bandar Al Ahbabi with a defense-splitting through pass that the UAE international finished with composure into the back of Adel Al Hosani’s net.
The Boss kept the momentum alive in the second half and took the lead just six minutes after the restart. The ball fell to Mohamed Shakir inside the box after a poorly cleared corner kick from Al Hosani. Mohammed Shaker headed the ball to Laba Kodjo, who converted past the keeper from a close range “51”.
At the 69th minute, the match referee and the VAR ruled out Al Ain’s third goal scored by Laba, who was claimed he was on offside. It wasn’t until the 83rd minute when Sharjah leveled the scoreline through Coronado. Then, Salim Sultan snatched the full three points for Sharjah in the first minute of injury time. Salim sent Coronado’s accurately crossed freekick past Khalid Eisa with a powerful flying header to make it 3-2.
Al Ain: 2
Goals: Bandar Ahbabi “40” – Lapa Kodjo “51”.
Starting Lineup: Khalid Eisa, Tsukasa Shiotani, Ismail Ahmed, Mohamed Ali Shaker, Saeed Jumaa, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Ahmad Barman, Yahiya Nader, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Jamal Marouf and Laba Kodjo.
Substitutions: Omar Yassin replaced Mohammed Abdul Rahman “77”. – Andreja Radovanovic replaced Ahmad Barman “85” – Falah Walid replaced Jamal Marouf “86”.
Yellow Cards: Ivan Leko “78” – Andreja Radovanovic “87”.
Red Cards: None.
Al Sharjah: 3
Goals: Igor Coronado Penalty “11” – Igor Coronado “83 – Salim Sultan” 90 + 2 “.
Starting Lineup: Adel Al Hosani, Shaheen Abdullah, Ricardo Gomez, Igor Coronado, Omar Jumaa, Ali Al Shehhi, Ali Al Dhanhani, Abdullah Ghanem, Ryan Mendez, Marcus Vinicius and Otabek Shukurov.
Substitutions: Tariq Al Khadim replaced Omar Gomaa “62” – Salem Sultan replaced Shaheen Abdulrahman “67” – Mohammed Abdul Basit replaced Mohammed Al Shehhi “75”.
Yellow Cards: Shaheen Abdulrahman “56” – Adel Al Hosani “90”.
Red Cards: None.
Referees
The match was managed by Ammar Al Junaibi, “Match Referee” assisted by Mohammed Ahmed Yousef, “First Assistant”, Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, “Second Assistant”, Mohammed Salim Yousef “Fourth Official”, Ali Makhlouf “referees’ Assessor” and Nasser Al Hammadi “Match Commissioner”.
Match Fans
A total of 9858 fans from both clubs attended the match held at Al Sharjah Stadium.
