Sebastian Tagliabue and Alvaro Negredo feature in latest AGL Picks of the Week

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  • (Pro League Committee).

    The third round of the 2018/19 Arabian Gulf League was lit up by a trio of star performers.

    Find out who shone brightest, and who else generated the latest talking point.

    PLAYER OF THE WEEK – SEBASTIAN TAGLIABUE (AL WAHDA)

    (PLC).

    (PLC).

    ‘Timeless’ is the word that springs to mind when discussing peerless Wahda striker Tagliabue.

    The 33-year-old stretched his record-breaking return as a foreigner to 115 goals in 115 Arabian Gulf League-matches with the opening pair in Friday’s resounding 4-1 thrashing of 10-man Al Wasl.

    Tagliabue has netted at least once in all three top-matches. This shows why the UAE are so keen to get the uncapped Argentine naturalised before January’s Asian Cup.

    GOAL OF THE WEEK – SALIM ALI (BANI YAS)

    (Twitter/@BaniyasClub).

    (Twitter/@BaniyasClub).

    This was an eventful return to Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium for utility man, Ali.

    The injury prone Pride of Abu Dhabi youth product continued his run of bad fortune when he deflected substitute Nacer Barazite’s cross into his own goal on 84 minutes.

    The 24-year-old could easily have wallowed in this moment. Instead, within five minutes he’d walloped a sidewinding shot past goalkeeper Adel Fadaq from just inside the penalty area to maintain promoted Bani’s unbeaten start.

    COACH OF THE WEEK – FABIO VIVIANI (ITTIHAD KALBA)

    (Twitter/@ittihadkalbafc).

    (Twitter/@ittihadkalbafc).

    Change at the top has led to a dramatic change of fortunes for the First Division League champions.

    The decision to award ex-AC Milan midfielder Viviani a second stint in charge after just one game was met with derision. Since then, however, successive wins have been earned.

    Viviani deserves acclaim after melding a trio of new foreigners. A debut goal for Hungary’s Balazs Dzsudzsak in the 2-0 win at Al Dhafra points to an upwards trajectory.

    EVEN ‘THE BEAST’ NEEDS TIME IN AGL HOT HOUSE

    (Twitter/@ALNasrSC).

    (Twitter/@ALNasrSC).

    Much derision met ex-Spain striker Alvaro Negredo’s horror debut for Al Nasr.

    Missing a penalty in a 3-0 reversal to Al Ain is a bad look. But the worth of any foreigner cannot truly be judged until the temperature drops next month.

    Oppressive heat – Istanbul is currently more than 10°C cooler than Dubai – is a real leveller at this stage.

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