Moussa Marega’s first-half goal earned Sharjah FC a 1-0 win over Jordan’s Al Faisaly
Moussa Marega’s first-half goal earned Sharjah FC a 1-0 win over Jordan’s Al Faisaly
Moussa Marega’s first-half goal earned Sharjah FC a 1-0 win over Jordan’s Al Faisaly at Sharjah Stadium in Group B of the AFC Champions League™ 2023/24 on Monday
Both teams went into the game chasing their first win and goal in the competition, with Sharjah having held Al Sadd to a goalless draw in Doha in their first match and Al Faisaly having lost their debut in the competition 1-0 to FC Nasaf.
Sharjah’s first chance of the game arrived in the 12th minute when Marega collected a through ball, rounded goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil then pulled it back to Caio whose side-footed attempt was cleared off the goal line.
The hosts took the lead after 20 minutes as Miralem Pjanic sent a perfectly-weighted long ball behind the Al Faisaly defence for Marega who brought it down and applied the finish for his first AFC Champions League goal in his new club colours.
The Jordanian side came close to opening the scoring when the Sharjah defence failed to clear a Obieda Al Samrieh set-piece and the ball fell to Anas Bani Yaseen who controlled it on his chest and fired on the half-volley from the edge of the box, drawing a flying save from goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani.
Al Faisaly came racing out of the blocks in the second half and nearly found the equaliser within four minutes of the restart when Salem Al Ajalin overlapped and fed the ball to Mohammad Aleikish who tried his luck from a narrow angle but narrowly missed the target.
The home side came within a whisker of doubling their lead at the hour mark when Tunisian forward Firas Ben Larbi picked the ball up down the right and dribbled inside on his left foot before rifling an effort that fizzed just past the outside of the post.
Nizar Al Rashdan embarked on a solo run that saw him arrive deep into the Sharjah penalty box and set up Aref Al Haj whose first time finish was parried away by Al Hosani with just nine minutes left on the clock to maintain the Emirati team’s lead until the end.
Sharjah have another home game next as they welcome group leaders Nasaf to the UAE while Al Faisaly fly to Qatar to face Al Sadd on Matchday Three.
