«Dubai Knights» does not waste points in front of clubs that do not compete for the title
Shabab Alahli punishes 6 clubs after «Bani Yas shock»
Shabab Alahli players were happy to beat Al-Bataeh the day before yesterday. Cinematographer: Osama Abu Ghanem
Shabab Al Ahli strengthened its position at the top of the ADNOC Professional League standings by defeating Al Bataeh by three goals without a response, the day before yesterday, in the 22nd round at Rashid Stadium in Dubai, to raise the «Dubai Knights» score to 49 points alone in the lead, while the balance of «Al Raqi» stopped at 18 points in 12th place.
Shabab Al Ahli learned the lesson from the shock he received from Bani Yas and his waste of easy points against clubs that do not compete for the league title, when he lost to «heavenly» in the 12th round by two goals to one at Rashid Stadium on December 25 last year, before punishing «Dubai Knights» six clubs and achieving the full mark by defeating each of: Ajman, Dibba Al Fujairah, Al Dhafra, Ittihad Kalba and Khorfakkan, and finally Al Bataeh.
On the other hand, the clubs chasing Shabab Al Ahli at the top of the league wasted points in front of those that do not compete for the title, in the same period, with Al Ain losing to Al Nasr, and Al Wasl drew with Ittihad Kalba, while Al Wahda wasted many points in the first round to make it difficult to reduce the difference, to top the «Dubai Knights» standings, and is close to winning the title for the eighth time in its history.
For his part, Shabab Al Ahli coach, Portuguese Leonardo Jardim, expressed his happiness with the victory achieved by the Dubai Knights over Al Bataeh, and said in a press conference: "We played in a direct offensive manner, and we had many opportunities in the first half, and the brilliance of Al Bataeh goalkeeper Zayed Al Hammadi, in keeping away many dangerous opportunities for my team."
He added: "We played very hard from the first minute, which contributed to the team showing well, and achieving a very important victory in the race for the title."
On Shabab Al Ahli's decision to shield the league, he said: "There are four or five teams competing for the title, and they have the same ambition, and we have to deal with the same seriousness in all matches."
On Shabab Al Ahli's upcoming matches, Jardim said: "A strong match awaits us against Al Wasl, a strong rival for the league, and other difficult confrontations against Al Nasr, Bani Yas and Ajman, which are strong teams that offer good levels in the league."
■ Since last December, Shabab Al Ahli has achieved the full mark by defeating Ajman, Dibba Al Fujairah, Al Dhafra, Ittihad Kalba, Khorfakkan and Al Bataeh.
Shakhit: We played with the reserve to focus against Dibba Al-Fujairah
Al-Bataeh coach, Moroccan Said Chekhit, said: "His team played the match with incomplete ranks," and added: "We missed 11 players during the past week, due to the circumstances of injuries and suspension, and so we participated with a number of reserve players, because we are frankly thinking about our next match against Dibba Al-Fujairah."
He explained in a press conference: «Our match against Dibba Al-Fujairah in the 23rd round, will determine by a large percentage our stay in the Professional League, and we were trying to get a point out of our match with Shabab Al-Ahli, because we realize the difficulty of facing the league leader». He concluded: «I think there is doubt about the validity of the first penalty kick calculated for Shabab Al-Ahli, which helped to change the course and result of the match, in addition to absences, and in any case we are ready for Dibba Fujairah, and we hope that we will not repeat the same circumstances that we were subjected to last week».