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Essam Dhahi puts Al Shabab on top of the standings

 

Dubai -based Al Shabab snatched three points after beating Al Riffa of Bahrain by a solitary goal in the 26th Club GCC Champions League and Cup Competition second round match played tonight at Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium in Dubai. Al Shabab raised their tally to six points to top the standings of their group. They started their campaign in this competition with a victory over Al Salmiyah of Kuwait, beating them by the same margin. The losers' are in the second place on three points whilst Al Salmiyah are at the bottom of the table and they are yet to open their account.

The visiting team started the game with more concentration trying to score an early goal but the hosts' players did not allow them to make their dreams come true. Their attempts continued for almost 15 minutes but their performance was highly affected and it went down due to lack of physical fitness. Both squads failed to build up some scoring attacks as most of their raids could not lead them to the target with the home team Al Shabab, who played without their midfielder Hassan Ibrahim due to suspension, dominating the game.

Al Shabab's Chilean player Carlos Villanueva sent a fierce shot in the 26th minute which was saved by the goalkeeper Hamad Al Dosary. He also came one minute later to launch another volley off a dead ball but it rebounded off the keeper's hands before being cleared away by a defender. The visitors' coach was forced to make his first substitute when Tunisian player Majdi Bin Mohammad was injured in the 30th minute.

The home squad made some good attempts and their efforts yielded the lone goal of the match via Esam Dhahi who headed the ball home off Villanueva's corner kick in the 32nd minute Essa Obaid came close to net the second goal two minutes later with a perfect shot had not for the goalie saved brilliantly. His teammate Ali Mohammad Rashid made another attempt for Al Riffa's keeper to save five minutes before the break. The visitors were awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute when Mohammad Ahmad Ali touched the ball with his hand inside the box but their Brazilian player Rico failed to convert it into the net for the goalie Hassan Al Shareef to deflect it to a corner to end the first session with a 1-0 result.

The two teams made some good efforts in the second half but they squandered a bagful of chances. Essa Obaid failed to drive the ball home in the 57th minute and his colleagues Hamad Ali and Brazilian player Joseil Da Silva lost two golden chances later on. The visiting team pressed hard in the last ten minutes and their player Abdul Rahman Mubarak was to score the equalizer one minute to time but his close-range shot went onto the cross bar.