ABU DHABI // A frustrated Luis Milla said he was disappointed for the Al Jazira fans after his team put in a below-par performance that resulted in a 3-3 draw against Dibba Al Fujairah, the Pro League's bottom team.
Khalil Al Ali scored twice and Abdulla Malallah converted a penalty but Jazira came from behind three times through Ricardo Oliveira, Matias Delgado and Abdulla Mousa to salvage a draw last night at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
"We had a good game against Al Ain [in a 1-0 defeat] and we were talking about going in to this game with a lot of confidence and intensity, but we just couldn't achieve that on the pitch," Milla said.
"We played disappointingly against a team at the bottom of the table. It is more frustrating because we were coming in to this game after a good game against Al Ain."
Milla said the plan was to play a fast passing game and they managed to do that in the second half. "We had a major share of both possession and territory after the break but we couldn't score from the chances we created," he said.
"It is hard for any team to win after conceding three goals although we managed to level every time they took the lead. That was the only positives we can take from this game."
Jazira play Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia in the Asian Champions League in five days, and Milla is hoping for a better performance.
"This is a very big game for us," he said. "We will put all our efforts in this game for the disappointments we have had so far."
Abdullah Misfir, the Dibba coach, said: "These are good results for the club but for me, it will count for nothing if get relegated. When I took charge of Dibba my goal was to keep them in the top flight league.
"We have played well but we still haven't had the desired results. We won against Al Ain, lost to Baniyas conceding a late winner and to draw against Jazira is another excellent result."
Dibba were depleted without 10 of their regulars and Misfir said: "I must congratulate my players for their performance. We adopted a different strategy and had some of the defenders playing in attack. It worked for us on the night."
Dibba went ahead in the 10th minute through Al Ali but their joy was short lived as Oliveira struck the equaliser a minute later.
The visitors regained the lead with a penalty from Malallah after a Khaled Sebil handball. Delgado levelled again when he neatly put away a lobbed pass from Ibrahim Diaky six minutes from the break.
Diaky was unlucky when his close-range effort crashed against the crossbar after Oliveira's shot was blocked by Mohammed Al Rowaihy, the Dibba goalkeeper.
Dibba took the lead for the third time when Al Ali headed from close range after Malallah's header from a corner ricocheted off the bar.
Mousa's bicycle kick inside the box restored parity.
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