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Sharjah hold hosts Al Shabab to a 1-1 draw.

Sharjah held hosts Al Shabab to a 1-1 draw in their Etisalat Pro-League Round 17 encounter played this evening at Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium. Al Shabab raised their tally to 28 points to stay in 3rd position while Sharjah are in 5th place provisionally on 23 points. The hosts pressed hard from the word go making some attempts but the visiting team's defenders played with more concentration depriving their contenders' front liners from hitting the back of the net. But in spite of Sharjah's brilliant performance in the back line, Brazilian player Cesar came close to give Al Shabab an early lead only 12 minutes into the match but he lost the chance. Cesar received a pass out the box on the left flank; he sent a strong volley for a defender to clear it away.

The two teams played a balanced game in the first session, creating a few number of scoring chances, but could not score. Against the run of play, Sharjah were the first to find the target when Marcelo headed home Khamis Ahmed's cross ball in the 30th minute. Marcelo raised his tally to 9 goals in the scorer's title run. Sharjah came to control the game afterwards making some good forays. At the time Sharjah were trying to score their second goal, the hosts Al Shabab exerted more efforts to come back to the match. Sharjah looked the better side after controlling the major parts of the game with their hosts demonstrating a rushing display and all their weak attacks were in vain to end the first half with a 1-0 lead for the visiting team.

Al Shabab recovered after the break building up a bagful of chances but their shots missed the target. Esam Dhahi was to add to the hosts' owes, but his close-range header went beyond the upright in the 56th minute. Sharjah's coach Kajoda brought in striker Mohammad Souroor in the 60th minute to replace Yousef Saeed to give more power to the front line. Six minutes later, Al Shabab surprised Sharjah when Brazilian player Jolio Cesar received a through pass from his colleague Villanueva from Chili inside the box to drive the ball home to make it 1-1. Nawaf Mubarak and his Brazilian teammate Marcelo missed two successive sitters in the 70th and 77th minutes. The two teams played an open match in the last minutes, but they lost all the chances that came their way to end the encounter with a 1-1 draw.