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Al Wasl 0-1 Sharjah: Victorious return to the top flight

Sharjah made their return to the professional top flight with a 1-0 victory away at Al Wasl in the first game of the 2013/14 Arabian Gulf League season. A 49th minute goal from Brazilian striker Fellype Gabriel was enough to hand Paulo Bonamigo’s side all three points at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai.

The opening half hour of the game was tightly contested but offered little by way of cutting edge in front of goal and it took until the 32nd minute for a clear chance to be crafted, as the game was heavily based in a midfield battle. Sharjah’s lively winger Ahmed Khamis was brought down just outside the area, and while Fellype Gabriel’s resulting free-kick was blasted straight into the wall, Bader Abdulrahman’s follow-up from distance sailed just over the crossbar. Al Wasl replied three minutes later when Fahad Hadeed - playing with his left wrist in a cast protecting a fracture sustained against Al Shabab in the UAE League Cup last week – forced a save from Mohamed Yousif, and seconds later Senegalese striker Andre Senghor did the same. As the game livened up in terms of opportunities, Senghor saw his 40th-minute free kick slip just through the wall to be seen late by Sharjah’s goalkeeper Mohamed Yousif, but he managed to beat the ball away to safety. A minute later Ze Carlos almost benefitted from an Al Wasl defensive mix-up but Dida did enough to smother the Brazilian’s shot, and as Sharjah’s purple patch continued the visitors had the ball in the back of the net in the 43rd minute, only to see the effort ruled out for offside.

The scores didn’t stay level for long after half time as Sharjah found a way through four minutes after the restart. A quickly-taken free kick was slid down the wing to Ahmed Khamis, who whipped a cross in for captain Fellype Gabriel to head home and give Sharjah a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute. Al Wasl soon made changes to try and get to grips with the game, bringing on Rashid Essa and Hamad Al Hosani in place of Ganim Basheer and Ahmed Jumaa, but it was Sharjah who continued in the ascendancy. There were nervy moments for Al Wasl’s back line in the 63rd minute as the visiting side saw several attempts to score blocked in the penalty area, with new Moroccan signing Abdelfettah Boukhriss heading off the line for Al Wasl. Things got tougher for the home side as head coach Laurent Banide was sent to the stands in the 77th minute for his protests at a challenge that left Rashid Essa needing treatment on the sidelines, and the UAE international midfielder, making only his second appearance since a long injury layoff, was uneasy on his feet for the remainder of the game. Though Al Wasl pressed hard for an equaliser late on, Sharjah stood firm and managed to see out five minutes of injury time to hold on for the victory.