Story of the match
Three goals in the space of 10 first-half minutes proved decisive for Al Nasr as they left Baniyas Stadium with three points on Thursday night.
Saleh Haboush opened the scoring for Baniyas just 40 seconds into the match but Nasr replied through Khalid Jalal, Jonathan Pitroipa and Jires Kembo-Ekoko to take a 3-1 lead into the break.
Ishak Belfodil reduced the deficit on 75 minutes when he guided in a shot from Ahmed Khamis to set up an anxious final quarter but Nasr’s rearguard stood firm to hold on to their 3-2 lead.
The result means Nasr consolidated third spot in the Arabian Gulf League table with 21 points from 10 games, the same as second-place Al Ahli, who have played three games less.
The Dubai club face league leaders Al Ain on Saturday.
Baniyas got off to the perfect start. Joaquim Larrivey, the Argentine forward, collected a quick throw-in, drew two defenders before slipping a pass towards the unmarked Saleh to tap the ball in to the back of an empty net with not even a minute on the clock.
Unperturbed by the early setback, Nasr scored three goals in quick succession, starting with Jalal’s effort on 24 minutes. Jalal ran past three Baniyas defenders before knocking it past goalkeeper Adel Abubaker and they were ahead a minute later when Pitroipa put Nasr ahead after exchanging passes with Ahmed Ibrahim.
Another neat exchange of passes saw Kembo-Ekoko scored Nasr’s third on 34 minutes the third goal for Nasr and extend the lead.
Belfodil’s sixth goal of the league campaign reduced the arrears and had Nasr on the back foot in a nervy finish but the home side could not find an equaliser.
Man of the match
Hard to single out one player as everyone contributed towards Nasr’s victory.
However, Jires Kembo-Ekoko’s goal and his tireless play to keep Baniyas in check wins him the vote.
What they said
Ivan Jovanovic, Al Nasr coach: “It was a very important and difficult match for us but we are happy we managed to win full points, particularly after the defeat to Al Ain last week.
My players reacted quickly after they scored an early goal and then established a good lead in the first half which we preserved until the end.
“In the second half we couldn’t control the pace of the game and gave them the opportunity to get back in the game.
“In the last 20 minutes Baniyas applied more pressure but we managed to preserve our lead.
“That was important for us because it gave us full points.”
Luis Garcia, Baniyas coach: “There was something amiss among the players, perhaps, they lacked motivation.
“I don’t really know what may have been the reason but they didn’t play as well as I thought they would.
“We had a good start and then we conceded three goals in a short period of time, all because of poor defending.”
The National’s verdict
Nasr bounced back well from their 3-0 hammering to Al Ain last week, where they surrendered at home so meekly.
Thursday night they revealed they are made of sterner stuff and are a side the other teams have to fear.
ELSEWHERE
Dibba 3 Emirates 0: Substitute Sanad Ali came on to score three second-half goals to lift host Dibba over Emirates 3-0.
Sanad came on as a second-half substitute and immediately made an impact scoring two minutes from coming off the bench at the 57th minute.
He went on to add goals at the 75th minute and in extra time to push the promoted side onto 11 points.
-- Agencies
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