Al Wahda warmed up for Monday’s Asian Champions League opener against Qatar’s Al Rayyan with a 5-1 thrashing of Sharjah in the Arabian Gulf League last night.
Sebastian Tagliabue opened the scoring for Wahda but the visitors hit back to level the scores through Chikashi Masuda.
Mohammed Al Hammadi struck on either side of half time and Balazs Dzsudzsak added a fourth before Sultan Al Ghafri completed the rout at the Al Nahyan stadium.
It was a perfect start for Wahda when Al Ghafri slipped a pass in for Tagliabue. He then forced his way into the box and he dispatch the ball into the far corner of the net with a powerful right-foot shot for an early lead.
However, the scores were soon level as Gelmin Rivas worked his way down the right flank, drew the Wahda defence out before slipping the ball to the unmarked Masuda to finish with a first-time shot.
Wahda regained the lead when a free kick from Salem Sultan was headed goalwards by Ahmed Rashid and Al Hammadi to knocked the ball home two minutes before the break.
Al Hammadi latched on to a cross from Rim Chang-woo to make it 3-1 shortly after the restart and Dzsudzsak fired home a free kick from 30 yards three minutes later.
The game was as good as over from that point. Even Javier Aguirre, the Wahda manager, seemed to have had enough as he made a double substitution.
He replaced Tagliabue and Dzsudzsak, possibly with one eye on Monday’s match, and gave Ismail Matar and Jorge Valdivia a run out before they travel to Qatar.
Man of the match
• Al Hammadi, Wahda: The youngster, 19, scored twice on his first start. He was quick on the ball in front of goal on both occasions and looks a bright prospect from Wahda’s academy.
What the managers said
• Javier Aguirre, Wahda: "It was a tight game in the first half but fortunately for us we regained the lead before half time. We scored two quick goals in the second half and they (Sharjah) couldn't react from that situation.
“Indeed, it was a good result for us ahead of the ACL first game. It will boost the confidence of our players. Hopefully, we can return with a good result from Qatar.”
• Jose Peseiro, Sharjah: "The game slipped away from us when Wahda scored twice within the first six minutes of the second half. We competed well in the first half but we were up against a good team. Our mistake was we couldn't score, otherwise I can't complain of their performance."
The National’s verdict
Sharjah’s position in the AGL table is becoming increasingly precarious after their winless run was stretched to nine games. Even more so as the teams below them are closing in.
In other action
Harry Novillo’s third-minute penalty was enough for Baniyas to return with full points from Al Dhafra.
It was their second win in three games under Abdulwahab Abdulqadir, their third manager for the season.
Baniyas are still bottom but now have 11 points, just one behind Emirates.
apassela@thenational.ae
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