Can Jazira revive?
The title race looks as if it has been settled following Al Ain’s 2-1 win over their closest challengers.
Zlatko Dalic’s side have a comfortable, six-point lead at the top and to lose it from here, they will have to drop seven of the 24 points still on offer and Jazira will have to win every match.
On the evidence of Al Ain’s performance so far, that seems improbable. The 11-time league champions have lost two of their first 18 matches and drawn three.
On the other hand, Jazira’s longest streak this season is five matches; it started at Al Shabab in the 12th round and came to an end when they were surprised 2-1 at home by Al Dhafra in the 17th week. Other than that, the Abu Dhabi club have not won more than two successive matches.
Mathematically they still have a chance, so it will be interesting to see if Eric Gerets’s team can keep their chins up and fight until the end. Alternatively they might simply accept Al Ain’s march to the title as inevitable and choose the remaining matches to give opportunities to their youngsters.
Nasr slip-ups
As Jazira mull their options, Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic will be busy analysing his team’s recent dip ahead of their visit to Fujairah.
Having ended their 26-year wait for some domestic silverware with their Arabian Gulf Cup triumph in January, Nasr have looked short of inspiration and have one win in their past seven league matches – against Sharjah, the team they beat in the cup final. Nasr failed to score in three of those matches and, more worryingly for Jovanovic, have conceded injury-time goals in three consecutive games. Fabio Lima scored a 93rd-minute equaliser for Al Wasl in the Bur Dubai derby and, in the latest game, Boris Kabi made it 1-1 for Ajman in added time.
Between those AGL matches, Nasr played host to Kuwaiti club Kazma in the GCC Clubs Championship and former Ajman striker Yousuf Nasser scored in the 92nd minute for the visitors. Fortunately for Nasr, that goal was not as costly since Nasr were two goals ahead going into injury time.
Jovanovic, understandably, was not pleased about dropping the four points against Wasl and Ajman. Hopefully, his players have got the message.
Sharjah’s turnaround
It is funny how one change in a team game can, at times, bring about a dramatic change in fortune, such as the one we are seeing at Sharjah.
Since the 23-year-old Marion Silva’s arrival from Betim on loan, Paulo Bonamigo’s men have won all three of their league matches – 2-1 at Kalba, 4-1 over Al Wahda and 5-2 at Baniyas.
That is two away wins and 11 goals in three matches. In their first 15 matches, they had managed only 16 goals and eight of them came in the two matches against the teams in the relegation places: Kalba (4-2) and Ajman (4-0).
Marion has not scored any of those 11 goals, but he has brought in energy, which was evidently missing when Leonardo Lima marshalled their midfield, although we had thought the 33-year-old’s experience would be invaluable for Sharjah.
Viana aids Wasl
Leonardo Lima’s experience may have not been of much use to Sharjah, but Hugo Viana’s maturity is doing wonders for Gabriel Calderon’s young Al Wasl squad.
Shunted out by Al Ahli in the summer, despite his superb performance in their three-trophy 2013/14 season, the 32-year-old former Portuguese international had to wait four months for his Wasl debut because of the controversy over extending the summer transfer window deadline.
Viana has shown he was worth the wait.
He has marshalled the Wasl midfield brilliantly since his re-registration in the winter transfer window and Wasl now look a team capable of challenging for a top-four position.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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