Everton Ribeiro tuned super hero on Monday night when he scored a brilliant goal and provided assists for two more to power hosts Al Ahli to a 4-1 victory over Al Jazira in the Arabian Gulf League national soccer championship.

AFC Champions League runners-up Al Ahli played cohesive soccer to outplay the visitors from the Capital in front of a large crowd. At half time the scoreboard showed a 1-1 stalemate after Jazira found the equaliser late into the period.

The first 15 minutes of the game was all about Jazira stretching themselves especially on the right flank of their half. Rodrigo Lima slotted home from a penalty in the 20th (1-0) minute after Jazira's Farees Juma brought down Ismaeel Al Hamdai who in one of his rare early inroads into the danger zone threatened to score from a handshaking distance.

Khamis Ismail found the equaliser for Al Jazira (1-1) four minutes from the end of the first half when he sent in a high roof top cracker as the Al Ahli goaltender Ahmed Mahmoud 'Dida' could only stand and watch the rocket helplessly.

Walid Abbas made it 2-1 in favour of Al Ahli in the 49th minute when off a cleverly chipped freekick from the midfield on the right side he ran in to punt it home from his first touch. Things moved so rapidly that the onrushing Jazira keeper Khalid Alsenaani had no idea of what was happening.

The 58th minute witnessed the Jazira defence in total panic and during the skirmish that ensued after a defence splitting ground cross from Ribeiro Lima had a go at the goal from a short distance. Off the resultant rebound off the outstretched leg of a desperate Jazira defender the ball went to Al Hamadi who ran in from the right weaved past a defender and sent a grounder which went in off the vertical post (3-1).

Then followed the 78th minute beauty by Ribeiro who accepted a brilliant through pass from Lima and fired a shoulder high left footer while on the run between the post and keeper Alsenaani (4-1).

Al Ahli were all over the place from the word go and they had the strong support of an appreciable number of the fans who turned up to see their Asian Player of the Year Ahmed Khalil.

The pace set by them was hectic and the traffic was difficult to control for the visitors' who had to resort to overtime work in the individual marking routines. Coach Olaroiu preferred to keep Khalil rest mode on the bench.

Moussa Sow and Lima benefitted again from the sublime skills of Ribeiro whose distribution work was far beyond the visitors' midfield and defenders. Al Ahli's missed chances in the 32nd 34th and 36 minutes went to prove the level of domination that the home side enjoyed.

In the Sharjah clash import Jo Alves' brace (30th and 40th minutes) and one more four minutes after half time by Luvannor Henrique (3-0) sealed the game in favour of the Dubai side. Michael Shaab's foreign player reduced the margin with a fine strike that hit the roof of the Shabab citadel in the 60 minute.

Al Shaab occupy last position with two points gained from two draws in the 14-side competition while Al Shabab among the top five early in the league have now slipped to ninth on 10 points.

The new team management setup at Al Shaab seem not to have solved any of their on-field problems where the Commandos are not able to adjust to the pace and quality of the type of level expected in the championship.

Mohammed Ayed (25th minute) and Abdulrahman (7th) were shown yellow cards by referee Fahad Al Kassar when they brought down the fast moving Shaab forwards with unfair sliding tackles from the back.

Al Shaab assistant coach Stephane Cusin playing a part time coach's role before the arrival of new coach Walter Zenga with whom Cusin has previously worked at Al Nasr and Al Jazira was however pleased with the way his midfield tightened their game to prevent further damage.

Hisham Al Gizouli

sharjah - Depsite their 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Al Shabab in the 9th round of the Arabian Gulf League Al Shaab were optimistic that their new Italian coach Walter Zenga is capable of turning things around.

A brace by Jo Alves and an individual effort by Luvannor earned Al Shabab crucial full points as the Slashers are looking forward to finish in the top four to claim a spot in the AFC Champions League the continent's premier club tournament. Michael Laurent slotted in the consolation goal for the home team with a good sense of the opportunity.

"We were beaten by a better side" said Al Shaab's keeper Obaid Al Taweela. "We are confident that with Walter Zenga we will be able to bounce back and make our presence felt. Zenga is a disciplined man and there are good signs that Al Shaab will return to the winning ways" he added.

However it was the first win for Al Shabab after six winless games in the competition. "That doesn't mean we didn't deserve to win in our previous encounters" said Al Shabab's keeper Salem Abdulla. "We have played well in most of our defeats and in football if you did not score you have to concede goals. This is the magic of the game and people must be patient" he added.

Jo Alves headed home the perfect cross of Villanueva at the half-hour mark and added the second goal from the spot ten minutes later to make it 2-0 for the Dubai-side. This was also the result at half-time.

"We have tried our best to return to the match in the opening minutes of the second half without much success" said Al Shaab's defender Mansour Al Baloushi. "Hopefully it would be the last defeat and with our new coach Walter Zenga we will be able to improve" he added.

Towards the 58th minute Luvannor Henrique made all to strike from the mouth of the box with a surface to surface left footer to make it 3-0 for Al Shabab.

Moni Mathews Sports journalist for the past 25 years after a 12-year stint in aviation and sports management.