Al Wasl stormed to a thumping 3-0 victory over Dubai rivals Shabab Al Ahli at Zabeel Stadium in the final match of Arabian Gulf League matchweek 11 to become the competition’s ‘Winter Champions’ at the end of the first half of the league.

Fabio de Lima opened the scoring for the Cheetahs with his 12th goal of the season. The Brazilian curled in a free-kick from 30 yards out in the 23rd minute.

A minute later, Lima received Ronaldo Mendes’ through pass after a misplaced pass by Shabab Al Ahlidefence, before returning the pass to Mendes who slotted home to double the hosts lead.

Mahdi Ali’s misery in his Shabab Al Ahli debut was compounded when Anthony Caceres rifled in a second free-kick past goalkeeper Hassan Hamza in the 72nd minute to complete the rout.

The final ten minutes of the match saw two Shabab Al Ahli players sent off, first it was defender Walid Abbas in the 81st minute, then defensive midfielder KhamisEsmail two minutes from time.

The result continues Al Wasl’s unbeaten first half of the season to return them to the top of the table with 25 points, head-to-head away goals record puts the Cheetahs above second-placed Al Ain. Shabab Al Ahli meanwhile drop to sixth in the table as their winless run extends to seven matches.