Saeed spurs Sharjah to victory and third place in Arabian Gulf League

Tagliabue scores four as Al Wahda keep eyes set on Asian qualification

Al Wahda players celebrate with Sebastian Tagliabue, No 11, who scored all four goals in his team's 4-1 Arabian Gulf League defeat of Ajman at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on April 11, 2014. CourtesShow more

Sharjah moved up to third in the Arabian Gulf League with a 3-1 victory away at Baniyas on Friday.

A double by Yousif Saeed and a Ze Carlos strike meant Fawaz Awana’s late free kick for Baniyas was only a consolation.

Sharjah took an early lead on the road as Saeed found the net in just the sixth minute, beating the offside trap and rounding the goalkeeper to slot home.

In the 23rd minute, the hosts went 2-0 down after a poor kick from goalkeeper Mohamed Khalef was intercepted by Sharjah and the ball went to Ze Carlos, who made no mistake with his finish.

It took until the 82nd minute for Baniyas to pull a goal back, but it was worth waiting for as Awana curled a fine free kick into the top corner to reduce the deficit to 2-1.

But their hopes of an equaliser were dashed in the 90th minute as Sharjah put the result beyond doubt with Saeed’s second.

Sebastian Tagliabue stole the show by scoring all of Al Wahda's goals in a 4-1 home win over Ajman. The victory took them above local rivals Al Jazira and into the top four.

Wahda made the breakthrough as the tireless Tagliabue made a strong run before completing a precise cross-goal finish in the 41st minute. He made it 2-0 two minutes later, converting a cross.

Tagliabue wrapped up his hat-trick in the 65th minute. Three minutes later Ajman managed to pull a goal back, with Bakari Kone finding the net, but Al Wahda soon restored their three-goal advantage as Tagliabue headed in his fourth.

Dubai’s survival hopes were dealt a heavy blow as they crashed to a 5-1 defeat at home to Al Dhafra in the Arabian Gulf League’s Round 23.

A hat-trick from Makhete Diop and goals from Kamel Chafni and Abdulla Al Jaberi condemned the hosts to their 15th league defeat of the season, leaving them seven points adrift of safety with three games remaining.

Al Nasr came from a goal down to beat Dubai neighbours Al Shabab 2-1. Goals from Habib Al Fardan and Ibrahima Toure turned the result around after Edgar Bruno had grabbed the opener.

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