SHAMKHAH // Jose Peseiro, the Al Wahda coach, was all praise for his departing defender Eisa Ahmed for playing a key role in Al Wahda's 2-1 win over Baniyas on Friday.
"No coach will want to lose his best players," he said of Ahmed, who is set to move to the Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ahli.
“Eisa Ahmed was one of the best players in that position. He is versatile and can play anywhere in the defence. I am not happy to lose him, but if he is going for a better future I don’t want to stand in his way.”
Last night’s result at the Baniyas stadium extended Wahda’s record to nine straight league wins carrying over from last season.
“It is a good win for us against a strong team,” Peseiro said.
“Baniyas played a much better game than what we saw from their previous two matches. Obviously we are very happy to win the three points after conceding an early goal.”
Peseiro insisted his team were still far away from the title race.
“At this time of the season, we will take one game at a time,” he said when asked if they were on the title path.
Luis Garcia, the Baniyas coach, said they have to be realistic and were not at the same level as some of the top teams in the league.
“When I joined the club I was told we had a strong team, but I don’t see them anywhere close to some of the top clubs in the country at the moment,” the Spaniard said.
“We are short of a striker to help Carlos Munoz, who seems to get isolated in attack. I have already requested the management that we need a second striker and they have already agreed to look for one.”
Baniyas were given a heady start through an early strike from Yousef Jaber, but Wahda hit back soon after the break to score twice within 11 minutes.
Baniyas opened the scoring when Adel Al Hosani, the Wahda goalkeeper, charged out of the area to challenge Munoz and barged over the Chilean forward. Jaber curled in the ensuing free kick from 30 yards to give the home side a heady start.
Wahda hit back two minutes into the second half when Mohammed Al Shehhi floated a long ball for Amer Omar to take deeper inside the box before unleashing a stunning shot that slammed into the roof of the net.
Adil Hermach then put the visitors ahead when he slotted in a ball that bounced off his Argentine teammate Sebastian Tagliabue in a goalmouth melee, giving the Moroccan international a fortuitous but vital goal.
apassela@thenational.ae
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