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All-attacking Al Shabab thrash fragile Al Jazira 5-1

Al Shabab’s rampant attacking flair proved too much to handle as they defeated Al Jazira 5-1 at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium on Monday night. A brace from Ciel and goals from Edgar Bruno, Hamdan Qassim and Essa Obaid capped a dominant second-half display from the home side, which moves them up a place to 6th in the Etisalat Pro League table on 33 points after their Round 22 game. Al Jazira still remain without a win in the League under new boss Luis Milla, and sit 5th on 36 points.

A largely uneventful first half began with a 2nd-minute shot from Al Jazira’s Sultan Barghash, which went just over the crossbar, and five minutes later Ali Mabkhout won a free kick in a promising position for the visitors, which was curled on target by Matias Delgado but Al Shabab goalkeeper Ismail Rabee Juma turned it over for a corner. Al Shabab’s most notable chance of the opening half hour came as Ciel floated a free kick in from the right in the 25th minute, and defender Walid Abbas got his head to the inswinging cross but was unable to steer his effort goalwards. Al Jazira immediately broke away with Ali Mabkhout showing persistence down the right, but Matias Delgado’s eventual shot was dragged disappointingly wide of the post. In the 33rd minute Luiz Fernando let one fly from range for Al Shabab but failed to hit the target. Ricardo Oliveira took a powerful free kick from a good position in the 45th minute but his effort cannoned back off the wall, as did the rebound.

Al Jazira could have taken the lead less than five minutes after the restart but Ricardo Oliveira’s effort from the left-hand side just brushed the far post. The game suddenly exploded into life as a last-ditch tackle from Al Jazira defender Sami Rubaiya kept Edgar Bruno from pulling the trigger in the 54th minute, but two minutes later Al Shabab stormed into the lead through a fine individual effort from Ciel, who curled a perfectly-placed shot into the net from just inside the area to put Al Shabab 1-0 up in the 56th minute. The home side immediately doubled their lead as their Brazilian trio in attack began to easily expose Al Jazira’s defensive frailties. A long ball on the right was collected by Luiz Alves, who cut back from the byline for Edgar to convert a simple tap-in and make it 2-0 in the 60th minute. Two minutes later and Al Jazira were back in the game, with a long ball knocked on by Ricardo Oliveira before finding its way to UAE national team striker Ali Mabkhout, who dispatched an excellent finish past Al Shabab’s goalkeeper to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 62nd minute. Four minutes later Mabkhout could have got his side back on level terms from a free kick but his header was off target, and straight away Al Shabab again broke forward from an Al Jazira attack at frightening pace, leaving the visitors exposed two-to-one at the back. Luiz Alves charged forward before calmly passing to compatriot Ciel in support, who made no mistake in finishing past the exposed Ali Khaseif to make it 3-1 in the 68th minute. From that moment the win never looked in doubt for Al Shabab, who continued to push forward at pace, with Haydarov Azizbek making great strides in midfield. In the 84th minute the victory was sealed when Al Shabab’s Hamdan Qassim lost his marker just outside the area, continuing a fluid run before hitting a splendid left-footed shot past an unexpecting Ali Khaseif to make it 4-1. In the final minute of the game substitute Essa Obaid piled on the misery for Al Jazira as he made it 5-1 to Al Shabab with a right-footed strike from inside the area, wrapping up the three points in five-star style for Marcos Paqueta’s men.