Arabian Gulf League 2020/21 season’ second matchday was played during the weekend, and teams are still looking to define their style.
One team that seems to find it is Bani Yas. Although they found themselves trailing in an early stage behind Fujairah, Nico Jimenez and João Pedro (with a brace) helped them to twist things around and to win the match 1-3.
It’s the second week in a row that Fujairah is letting a lead go, and eventually losing the match. The low breaking line this team have at the moment should alert the owners that Goran Tufegdžić might not be the man for the job.
Another team that seems to pick up a character for the season is Sharjah. The reigning champions from one of the unique Emirates in the UAE were struggling against Al-Wahda, but like in the first matchday - the saviour erupted in the final minutes. Last week it was Igor Coronado, this week it was Shahin Abdulrahman, who scored in 89th minute and gave the Sharjawys a precious victory.
The giants are still slipping
And while Sharjah and Bani Yas are in on the build-up, the traditional big clubs of the United Arab Emirates are still looking to find their stability.
After victories in the opening day, Al-Ain went to Dubai to play against Shabab Al-Ahli at the Rashid Stadium. Kodjo Laba gave the Ainawys the lead, but Yousef Jaber equalised 15 minutes to the final whistle.
The biggest question mark is Al-Jazira, that finished in a draw for the second week in a row, this time at home in a small derby against Al-Dhafra. Khalfan Mubarak gave the lead to The Pride of Abu Dhabi, but the rest of the match didn’t go as a planned for Marcel Kaiser’ side. Omar ‘Amoory’ Abdulrahman was injured in the 27th minute. Amoory held his knee, the same one he had the surgery at, and at the moment things doesn't look promising for his quick recovery. This is the fourth ACL injury the player is experiencing on a concise time lap. Amoory should have been Al-Jazira’s leader this season, after completing his comeback season slowly but carefully last year. It now seems that the player will be absent for not a short time.
Ten minutes later Salem Rashid received a second yellow card and was sent off, and if that’s not enough, on the 82nd minute, Jordanian star, Yasin Bakheet converted a penalty in and made it 1-1.
Al-Jazira with a disappointing start for the season, and now without Amoory, the rest of the stars will need to step up.
Dia Saba Watch
Two teams that actually improved their score from last week were Al-Wasl and Al-Nasr.
While Al-Wasl won 4-1 against Hatta, which is the league’s weakest side, for the time being, Al-Nasr won against Khorfakkan away, 0-1, via a late goal by Habib Al-Fardan.
Dia Saba, Al-Nasr’s Israeli player, played 93 minutes and was substituted in the end. Saba had a couple of nice moves but hasn’t found his form in his new team yet. Al-Nasr wins, but not impressing yet.
So far, in two matchdays, there were seven red cards in the Arabian Gulf League. This marks a spike in the aggressiveness of teams. In 2018/9 for comparison, there were 22 red cards in the whole season. It will be interesting to follow how it will impact the big clubs and the title race that is still shaping.
Photo via Sharjah official Twitter account.
