AGLEAGUE, matchweek 8 roundup
Al Sharjah further consolidated their position at the top of the standings, while Dibba continued to linger at the bottom of the table at the end of matchweek 8 of the Arabian Gulf League.
The King opened up a four-point gap at the top of the table and kept their undefeated record intact. Meanwhile, Al Ain and Al Jazira struggled as they now sit second and third tied on 16 points, two ahead of Al Wahda who remained in fourth place. Shabab Al Ahli also maintained their fifth position on 13 points.
Down at the other end of the table, Dibba earned one point only to stay at the bottom with four points, one behind Emirates Club. Al Dhafra and Al Nasr dropped to 11th and 12th places, respectively.
I n the middle of the table, Fujairah remained sixth on 11 points. Bani Yas, Al Wasl, Ittihad Kalba and Ajman are all tied on 10 points, occupying the seven-through-10 spots.
Four of the seven clashes that took place over Wednesday and Thursday ended with a winner, with the hosts winning only two encounters and the visitors claiming victories in the other two games.
The gameweek 8 action got underway with an entertaining 3-3 draw between struggling Emirates and Al Nasr, which left both teams at the bottom of the table. At the same time, Ajman earned a hard-fought 3-2 away win over Kalba, who remain winless for the fourth league game in a row.
Later on Wednesday, Bani Yas returned to winning ways as they beat their guests Al Dhafra 2-1, while Sharjah defeated Al Ain 2-1 at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in the other evening game to extend their lead at the top of the table and reach the 20th point.
The second day of matchweek 8 saw Dibba hold Al Jazira to a late 3-3 draw as the Pride of Abu Dhabi wasted a chance to close the gap on Sharjah on the top of the table, while the Sailors remained winless for the fourth consecutive game.
At the same time, Al Wasl earned a big 6-3 victory over 10-man Fujairah to end a three-game losing streak. Fujairah will miss the services of Algerian forward Mohamed Benyettou after being suspended for picking up a red card. The final match of the week concluded with a 2-2 draw between Al Wahda and Shabab Al Ahli in a game that saw Ismail Al Hammadi score a brace.
A total of 36 goals were scored in matchweek 8 with an average of 5.1 goals per match. No match ended goalless and all the 14 teams managed to find the back of the net.
Brazilian forward Welliton Soares retained his place at the top of goalscoring charts with nine goals after scoring for Sharjah against Al Ain. Meanwhile, Sebastian Tagliabue and Ali Mabkhout are tied on eight goals after scoring against Shabab Al Ahli and Al Wahda, respectively. Both Caio Canedo Correa and Fabio De Lima netted hat-tricks in Al Wasl’s 6-3 win over Al Wasl to reach their sixth and fifth goal of the campaign, respectively.
Sharjah continue to boast the best defensive records in the league, as they conceded eight goals each so far, while Emirates Club have the worst record with 20 goals in eight gameweeks. Meanwhile, Al Wahda maintained the best attacking record with 25 goals, while Dibba and Ajman have the worst offensive records, having scored 10 goals each.
