Sharjah left it late to defeat Shabab Al Ahli 1-0 in a top-four clash at Sharjah Stadium in Matchweek 17 of the ADNOC Pro League on Saturday.
The hosts came within a whisker of opening the scoring just eight minutes into the game when Ousmane Camara controlled Khaled Al Dhanhani’s cross from the right then laid it off for Luan Pereira who aimed his side footed effort into the bottom corner, beating goalkeeper Majed Nasser but was denied by the upright.
Shabab Al Ahli had their biggest chance halfway through the opening period when Ahmad Nourollahi scooped a pass over the Sharjah defence for Thomas Olsen and the Norwegian forward controlled then blasted his shot just over the crossbar.
As the game looked headed to end goalless, midfielder Abdullah Al Naqbi brought down Caio Lucas inside the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot.
Brazilian youngster Marcus Meloni stepped up and powered in the winner for Sharjah two minutes into added time.
The result means overtake Shabab Al Ahli into third place with 33 points, remaining within nine points of leaders Al Ain, while the Dubai based side sit fourth with 30 points.