Mabkhout and Neves goals ensure Jazira win at Shabab

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  • Kenwyne Jones heads the ball against Al Shabab (Photos courtesy of AGL).

    Things are definitely looking up for Al Jazira.

    Days after a place in the AFC Champions League was memorably secured against Xavi’s Al Sadd on penalties, they put any lingering relegation fears to rest with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Al Shabab.

    For once, the gloom on Sunday was restricted to their sinking opponents.

    The Pride of Abu Dhabi could not have chosen a better time to face the hosts. Star foreign trio Carlos Villanueva, Azizbek Haydarov and Henrique Luvannor were absent, they had been dumped out of Asia by Bunyodkor in midweek and lost three of their last four Arabian Gulf League fixtures to slump down to seventh.

    Coach Caio Junior – against the club with whom he lifted the 2011/12 President’s Cup – could now not be blamed for expecting the worst as rumours swirl about his position.

    Yet, nothing is straightforward with the Pride of Abu Dhabi. Their degeneration from second place last term to hovering above the relegation zone provides a better barometer than the progression against Al Sadd.

    A listless first half in Dubai ended with them going behind. Occasional UAE centre-back Mohammed Ali Ayed outfoxed Fares Juma to nod home a Mohammed Juma free-kick, choosing a good moment to break his duck in 2015/16.

    Boss Henk ten Cate was furious at the concession, an undoubtedly-strident half-time team talk receiving a reaction. A smartly-worked set-piece of their own saw UAE star Ali Mabkhout head in an excellent 12th goal of the campaign after Kenwyne Jones flicked on Thiago Neves’ deep ball.

    Chances were few and far between, but fortune favoured Jazira on 79 minutes. Brazil playmaker Neves – in his most-noteworthy intervention in black and white since a summer switch from Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal – worked space on the edge of the box, his tame shot looping off centre-back Mohammed Marzooq and past the despairing jump of goalkeeper Salem Abdulla.

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