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Al Shaab and Al Nasr share points in a 1-1 draw

 

Al Shaab and Al Nasr took a point apiece from their Etisalat Pro League Round 19 match, which ended in a 1-1 draw at the Khaled bin Mohamed Stadium in Sharjah. The point sees Al Nasr stay sixth with 29 points, whilst Al Shaab are just above the drop zone in 12th with 11 points.

Al Shaab started the encounter promisingly, looking to make their home advantage count as they scrap for every point they can secure in their battle against relegation. As the game progressed, Al Nasr gained more of a foothold on the proceedings and carved out more scoring chances, notably through Japanese player Takayuki Morimoto, but they failed to find a way through and the first half ended 0-0 with few clear-cut chances to report.

Just two minutes after the interval, Morimoto missed a chance to give Al Nasr the lead when he fired a powerful shot from inside the box, but it was cleared away by Al Shaab defender Ali Rabei. Seven minutes later, at the other end of the pitch Noel Kaseke put his Al Shaab side 1-0 up. Receiving the ball at the edge of the box, the Zimbabwean midfielder raced clear on goal and his shot to hit a blocking defender’s foot, and the deflection looped the ball over advancing ‘keeper into the empty net in the 54th minute. Inspired by this goal, the players of both teams increased the tempo with Al Nasr trying to level the score and Al Shaab fighting to defend their narrow lead. Al Nasr exploited the retreating back line of their rivals to put more pressure on them in search of an equaliser. Al Shaab coach Marius Sumudica substituted Hassan Maatouk for Faisal Khalil, who has recently returned from an injury layoff. In the opposing dugout, his counterpart Walter Zenga brought off Humaid Abdulla and replaced him with Younis Ahmad just after the hour mark. Al Nasr continued to press and finally got their deserved equaliser in the 73rd minute through a powerfully-struck shot from Bruno Cesar; his 11th goal of the season. The visitors thought they had snatched all three points at the death but had a late header by Habib Al Fardan ruled out, as Al Nasr had taken their corner kick before Al Shaab had completed a substitution in process, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.