Guilherme Da Silva's second-half goal maintained Shabab Al Ahli's perfect start to the ADNOC Pro League campaign as they edged Al Wasl 1-0 at Zabeel Stadium in matchweek three.
The two sides could not be separated during a closely contested first half, but Da Silva provided the decisive moment after the restart to secure all three points for Shabab Al Ahli.
Yuri Cesar almost gave the visitors an early lead inside five minutes after being picked out unmarked inside the penalty area, but his effort was brilliantly denied by Al Wasl goalkeeper Mohamed Ali.
Cesar remained at the heart of Shabab Al Ahli's attacking threat and went close again when his left-footed effort struck the side-netting.
Al Wasl responded and nearly broke the deadlock in the 38th minute, with Renato Junior directing a header narrowly wide of the bottom-right corner as the teams went into the break level.
Shabab Al Ahli eventually found the breakthrough in the second half. A slick team move carved open the Al Wasl defence before the ball fell to Da Silva, who produced a sublime low finish to find the back of the net and score what proved to be the only goal of the game.
Sardar Azmoun thought he had doubled Shabab Al Ahli's advantage in the 66th minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside, leaving Al Wasl within touching distance.
The hosts pushed for an equaliser and were handed a late opportunity when Mehdi Taremi found himself in a promising position during second-half stoppage time, but he was unable to convert as Shabab Al Ahli held firm.
Da Silva's decisive strike ultimately proved the difference in a tightly fought contest, with Shabab Al Ahli showing both attacking quality and defensive resilience to leave Zabeel Stadium with all three points and preserve their perfect start to the league campaign.
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