Story of the match
Al Jazira signalled their Arabian Gulf League title intentions on Thursday night with a 5-0 destruction of struggling Baniyas, whose new manager Jose Gomes was given an unhappy introduction to life in the UAE.
Jazira gave starting berths to their two new Brazilian signings, Ailton Almeida and Joao Carlos, with the former making a significant contribution by netting his first goals for the Abu Dhabi club.
Ali Mabkhout stole some of Almeida’s sheen though by scoring his second hat-trick in a week to move Jazira top of the table with 13 points from five games.
Mabkhout missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium as he combined with new strike partner Almeida, who sent in a low cross for the Emirati international, but with the goal at his mercy, Mabkhout somehow sent the ball wide.
All was soon forgiven though as the UAE international netted twice in nine minutes soon after.
Felipe Bastos’s attempt to head a goal kick from the Jazira goalkeeper Ali Kasheif fell invitingly into Mabkhout’s path who dispatched the ball into the visitor’s goal for a 29th-minute lead.
Darwish Mohammed then brought down Khalfan Mubarak with a clumsy challenge and Mabkhout stepped in to score from the penalty spot. He completed his hat-trick four minutes before full time with a well-taken header.
Almeida struck two minutes into the second half and added a second with a dipping shot.
Man of the match
After setting up Mabkhout for the opener, Almeida’s spectacular strikes were the highlight of the night. They were both strikes from distance that left goalkeeper Ahmed Juma helpless.
What they said
Henk ten Cate, Jazira manager: "Sometimes you are happy but not satisfied. It was one of those games tonight. We didn't start well and didn't play compact as a team. We scored because of the mistakes but had we played against teams like Al Ahli, Al Shabab and Al Ain, they could have punished us.
“I want to see my team spread out and create space when we have possession, but they need to play compact as soon as we lose possession. That’s what I want to see my team play. But I must say we scored some wonderful goals. I really enjoyed the goals scored in the second half.”
Jose Gomes, Baniyas manager: "It was a tough game for us but we can say we started well and created some goal situations. Each long ball Jazira tried turned out to be a dangerous situation.
“We have a lot of work and a lot of things to improve. The way forward is to keep working to eliminate the mistakes ... It is difficult to share my ideas with the players in a short time.
National verdict
A change of manager had little impact on Baniyas. They are in for a long, hard season.
RESULTS:
Thursday
• Al Dhafra 2 Kalba 1
• Al Wasl 2 Sharjah 0
• Al Jazira 5 Baniyas 0
FIXTURES:
Friday
• Dibba v Al Ain, 4.55pm
• Al Wahda v Al Nasr, 5pm
• Al Shabab v Al Ahi, 8pm
• Hatta v Emirates, 8pm
