Al Shaab rally to hold Al Nasr

Sharjah - A 1-1 draw at the Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium on Thursday night must have come as a relief to 'The Commandos

Defensive errors were the order of the day in the match between Al Shaab and Al Nasr. First a goalkeeping howler from Al Shaab captain Obaid Altawila enabled Al Nasr take the lead in the 25th minute through Nilmar only for 'The Blue Wave' to surrender it with 10 minutes to go for the final whistle when their own player Mahmoud Khamis committed a similar lapse to hand Jose Eduardo an easy goal.
A 1-1 draw at the Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium on Thursday night must have come as a relief to 'The Commandos', who have already been relegated, but the result could probably decide Al Nasr's fate when the League concludes on May 8. Currently in fourth position, Nasr had a good chance of moving to third in the standings above Al Wahda had they won on the night. And, the way the proceedings were going in their favour it looked like they had one foot in, until the equaliser which has somewhat put a spoke in their progress for the AFC Champions League.
Speaking to the media after the match, coach Ivan Giovanovits said he was disappointed with the outcome. "We played a good game by starting with a goal but the mistake has cost us. "Our next match is against Fujairah and they just beat Al Ain so we will have to try to win that match and finish in the top four," said the Serb.
Nasr were lucky to break the deadlock in the 25th minute when opportunist Nilmar capitalised on Obaid Altawila's mistake to put the Blue Wave ahead. It was an innocuous high-ball back-pass from defender Talal. Obaid tried to bring the ball under control but completely misjudged it and Nilmar, who was lurking nearby, pounced on the loose ball to tap it home.
Prior to the goal, Shaab could have taken the lead when Marcos de Santana capitalised on Khalid Jalal's poor defending and with only Abdulla Ismail at his mercy the Brazilian coolly placed it past the goalkeeper only to have the mortification of seeing it hit the post.
Marcos was again unlucky in the 33rd minute when he used his speed to good effect to outrun two defenders but hit straight into onrushing Abdulla Ismail.
Ahmed Alzari had a chance to restore parity for Shaab in the 70th minute when he darted down and in a jiffy had a shy at the goal but Abdulla Ismail charged out and just blocked his shot.
Shaab continued to apply pressure in search of the equaliser and Maher Jassim came close to it but his header sailed over.
With minutes ticking away Eduardo finally found the equaliser. A long through ball from Talal Abdalla exposed Mahmoud Khamis' defending as he let Eduardo slip through and gave the Brazilian enough time to score past a hapless Ismail. Shaab coach Stephane Cusin was happy with the result. "It was a great game. There was good intensity from the players.
"We had also played good against Al Ain and Al Jazira but we don't get what we expect. Nasr are a strong team but we still had four to five clear chances to win the game," he added after the match.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com

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