“The Knights” regains the “hero’s memory” in “Night of the Seven” – Al-Ittihad

Murad Al-Masry (Dubai)

Shabab Al-Ahly regained the memory of being the “defending champion,” after beating the Emirates team in results and performance by “sevens,” amid the joy of its fans in the stands of Rashid Stadium, within the “tenth round” of the “ADNOC Professional League.”
“Al-Fursan” succeeded in reconciling with its supporters, in the match, which is considered the “first step” on the road to returning to competing for the title again, benefiting from the faltering of “leading” Al-Wasl, by drawing with Al-Wahda, and thus reducing the difference with “The Emperor” to 4 points. Shabab Al-Ahly also has a “postponed” match against Al-Sharjah on December 20, while Shabab Al-Ahly fans are looking forward to completing the reconciliation, when it faces Al-Wasl specifically next Monday, in the second leg of the “Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup” quarter-finals, and it must compensate for its 2-3 loss in the first leg.
What is striking about Shabab Al-Ahly’s victory is the “collective performance,” as 6 players participated in the seven goals, after three of them scored a “double,” namely Bala, Yuri Cesar, and Hareb Suhail. Matthews Lima also scored a goal, while Yahya Al-Ghassani made two goals, and Renan Victor scored a goal.
The presence of the “duo” Luca and Abdullah Al-Naqbi in the middle created a state of positive harmony between them, which represents an important addition to the team in the next stage.
This is the first time that Shabab Al-Ahly scored 7 goals in a professional league match in a long time, and the last time they scored 7 goals or more, when they beat Ajman 8-1 in 2015.
Serbian Marko Nikolic, Shabab Al-Ahly coach, who “rotated” the lineup by bringing Federico Cartabia off the bench in the second half, believes that his team played the match, while he also has his eye on the results of the competing teams, and that Al-Wasl’s draw against Al-Wahda is “useful.” He said, “With 25 years of coaching experience, a team cannot be league champions from December, so we must continue to fight in all our matches.”
He added, “Winning by seven is like any other victory, because it only gives three points. The difference is that we succeeded this time in translating the opportunities that were given to us.”