UAE Professional League Committee - UAE Pro League Committee

Al Nasr beat Sharjah 3-2 forcing them to stay in the relegation zone

Dubai-based Al Nasr forced Sharjah to stay in the relegation zone after beating them 3-2 in the match played this evening at Al Maktoum Stadium within the 17^th round match of the Etisalat Pro League. The winners raised their tally to 32 points while the losers are staying at the bottom of the table with only 10 points. The two squads started the game with quick attacks and Sharjah came close to open the scoring only a few seconds from the word go when their Brazilian striker Marcelo Oliveira found a nice sitter but he shot wide. This was followed by two successive opportunities for the hosts via Amara Diane whose close-range shot went just close to the upright and Luca Toni whose header was deflected by the visitors' goalkeeper Hassan Al Sharif to a corner in the second and 4^th minutes respectively. The home team pressed hard afterwards and their efforts were soon paid dividends when their Brazilian midfielder Lima sent the ball into the upper right hand side of the net giving his side an early lead in the 13^th minute. Luca Toni was sent free six minutes later but defender Ali Al Saadi spoiled his attempt. Edinho brought the game back into parity in the 21^st minute when he received a lovely pass, rounded up two defenders before sending the ball into the net making it 1-1. But Diane added the second goal for the hosts in the 34^th minute capitalizing on a severe defensive fault to end the first session with a 2-1 lead.

The performance of the two teams dropped after the break, but Al Nasr were still the better side. Sharjah relied heavily on counter attacks but failed to put more pressure on their rivals' defense. The losers played the last 16 minutes with ten players after their frontline Marcelo Oliveira was shown the red card after collecting two yellow cards. Diane made things difficult for the losers when he netted the third goal in the 75^th minute and Edinho reduced the deficit in the injury time to end the game with a 3-2 victory for Al Nasr.