Sport360°'s Matt Monaghan reflects on the latest round of Arabian Gulf League matches and offers his picks of the week from round three.
Player of the week
Ahli team-mate Luis Jimenez and Al Jazira’s Mirko Vucinic went one better and scored hat-tricks, but Grafite was intrinsic to the Red Knights rebounding from their Al Shabab shocker.
Back in the starting lineup, the skipper set the platform for Habib Fardan and Jimenez to excel.
Coach of the week
Paulo Bonamigo (Sharjah)
Bonamigo was not about to panic after back-to-back defeats followed last term’s late collapse. The Brazilian stuck to his guns, only a late injury-time rally making the scoreline less painfull for Ittihad Kalba.
Goal of the week
Yousef Jaber (Bani Yas)
Captain Yousef Jaber channelled his inner-Daniel Passarella to sweep in a delightful free-kick few centrebacks could ever dream of. The technique was exemplary. Unfortunately, the Sky Blues’ defending was not of a similar calibre against Al Wahda.
Talking points
What about the Super Cup?
It’s more than two weeks since it should have been staged, yet the mystery is still deepening about when the Arabian Gulf Super Cup will be played. The fixture list is compressed this term by November’s Gulf Cup and January’s Asian Cup.
Al Ain look likely to exit the AFC Champions League on Tuesday, but the AGL fixtures come thick and fast right up until the first of two UAE friendlies on October 10. A tough one to work out.
Is honesty the best policy?
Bani Yas boss Luis Garcia was in a commendably candid mood after the 2-1 defeat to Wahda. The affable Spaniard served up some beauties about the Sky Blues administrators not holding a firm grasp on reality. Brave words for a man in charge of a club who have gone through eight other coaches in four years and are yet to taste victory this term.
