Khaled Obaid: We expected a quiet tour, but Al-Nasr and Kalba had a different opinion

Features of the «league champion» appear in Shabab Al-Ahli after round 20

Shabab Alahli beat Khorfakkan and moved away at the top of the league by 5 points. Cinematographer: Osama Abu Ghanem

Shabab Al Ahli team has completed nearly 60% of its journey towards clinching the ADNOC Professional League title, after achieving what it wants in each round by collecting the three points, until the difference between it and its closest rivals widened to five points, which means that the team serves itself, without looking at the results of others, which always come in favor of the Dubai Knights.

Shabab Al Ahli succeeded in overcoming the obstacle of Khorfakkan in the 20th round while Al Ain lost at home to Al Nasr, and Al Wasl drew with Ittihad Kalba, all of which contributed to Shabab Al Ahli moving away with this comfortable difference, and may get closer to ending the championship if it succeeds in overcoming Al Ain in the 21st round, where the difference will be eight points with only five games left to the end of the competition.

Al Ain's loss at Hazza Al Nasr Stadium was deserved, as the team did not appear as expected at this important stage, but the joy of Al Nasr fans overshadowed the reasons for the loss of the leader, Al Nasr played its best game of the season and achieved an important victory that confirmed its late awakening and away from the relegation positions after reaching the 20th point in the standings.

In Kalba, Al Wasl lost two points in the race and moved five points away and lost two players after receiving a red card, namely Geronimo and Siaca, and the team is in a big predicament as it suffers from a significant weakness in the bench, which threatens its remaining career in the table.

The return of Al Wahda and Sharjah to victories ignites the competition for the Golden Square after three teams were equal at point 40, namely: Al Ain Al Wasl and Al Wahda, after the latter succeeded in overcoming the obstacle of Al Dhafra and returned to approach the top of Shabab Al Ahli, and Sharjah succeeded in overcoming any surprises that Al Bataeh team intended to do to get three precious points and return to victories.

In the relegation struggle, the matter may be resolved by approaching the farewell of Al Dhafra and Dibba to the amateur league, which is a difficult situation, especially for Al Dhafra after a long period settled in the professional league and reaching the final of the President's Cup.

Emirates Today monitored a question about Al Wasl team and the reason for losing four points in two games, with a question «Share our opinion.. What are the reasons for Al Wasl losing four points in the last two rounds and moving away from the lead of Shabab Al Ahli by five points in the ADNOC Professional League?, and four answers were monitored, namely: absences, weakness of the bench, technical interventions, and lack of experience of its players.

During the vote, in which 89 participants participated, 41.5% chose double the bench of Al Wasl, followed by the lack of experience of its players by 37.7%, technical interventions by 15.1%, and absences by 5.7%.

Technical analyst Khaled Obaid confirmed that Shabab Al-Ahli team served itself after the competitors fell and lost points for lack of stability on performance, pointing out that Shabab Al-Ahli beat Khorfakkan with insistence. Obaid told «Emirates Today»: «The closest competitors to Shabab Al Ahli is Al Wasl, but he faced a difficult opponent, a Kalba team, which was worth the match points, but wasted by missing a penalty kick in the 12th minute of added time, Al Wasl fell into the mistakes of the defenders and expelled two of them to meet Al Jazira in the next round without a center back». He added: «Al Ain fell into the trap of Al Nasr Club after the leader facilitated the match and believed that scoring the goal is a matter of time, while Al Nasr played a defensive style in which there was a kind of organization».

He continued: «I expected a quiet tour but victory and Kalba had a different opinion».

To view the top scorers, team standings and Round 20 results, please click here.