The Lads were not taking the friendly lightly and threatened almost from the off as Elliot Embleton pinched possession in a dangerous area and forced the keeper into a smart save with his bending effort from the edge of the box.
Embleton upped the ante ten minutes later as he received an arrowed ball from Corry Evans, set himself before bending another shot that clipped off the underside of the crossbar.
vMidway through the first half, Tony Mowbray’s side made the breakthrough when Abdoullah Ba’s through pass released Amad in behind the Al-Shabab defence. The Ivorian dummied a shot to beat his man freeing up the space to slide the ball into the net.Amad almost beame the architect of Sunderland’s second when he rode two challenges and slipped in Ellis Simms on the chargeb but the number nine lifted his effort over the bar.
Santi Mina’s came within inches of equalising with the last kick of the first half as his bend free-kick kissed the top of the crossbar.
After making nine changes at the interval, Sunderland continue to pin the Saudi side in their own half. Leon Dajaku broke into the box but his low drive was well saved. Moments later, Alex Pritchard bent a free-kick right on the edge of the box agonisingly over the bar.
A number of heavy and overly physical challenges from Al-Shabab which caused tempers to boil over. Red cards were shown to Lynden Gooch and an member of the Saudi squad but after a brief pause in the game, the officials decided to let the game continue after consultation with sets of coaching staff.
Sunderland held on for a win to cap off a hard working week in Dubai before their fixture schedule resumes next weekend.