Al Wahda, scratching and clawing, usurp third in Arabian Gulf League

Amith Passela reports on a 0-0 draw between Al Wahda and Emirates on Saturday night that, while disappointing for Wahda, moved them into third in the league nonetheless.

Al Wahda and Emirates battle during their Arabian Gulf League match on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi. Photo Courtesy / AGL / April 9, 2016

Al Wahda 0 Emirates 0

ABU DHABI // A point shared from a goalless draw moved Al Wahda to third in the Arabian Gulf League.

However, it was far from impressive for a club returning with the Arabian Gulf Cup, being held at the Al Nahyan Stadium by a struggling side three points above the drop zone.

Wahda’s performance on the night looked like a team that were still recovering from the cup celebrations.

They kept losing possession time and again, and hardly created any serious scoring chances throughout the game despite enjoying both possession and territory.

Adel Al Hosani, the Wahda goalkeeper who was presented the “Star of the Cup final” before the start of the match, did well to keep out Waleed Ambar’s effort from inside the area in added time of the first half in an otherwise an uneventful 90 minutes.

The absence of playmaker Jorge Valdivia, who is serving a two-match ban for a red card he received in the cup final, was clearly felt throughout proceedings by Wahda.

Man of the match

Haider Ali: The Emirates right-back, did a wonderful job marshalling his defence against his former club. He helped frustrate what little attacking endeavours they could muster.

What they said

Javier Aguirre, the Wahda coach: "We didn't win a point but lost two because we didn't play well. Perhaps the players were tired after the cup final.

“Emirates were good in defence. We’ll keep fighting to retain this spot. We also missed Valdivia for this game. If he was there, he would have done something different to give us all three points.

“However, it’s not unusual for some teams to play above par like how Emirates played. Maybe, they were in a worse situation than us to play for a point.”

Paulo Comelli, the Emirates coach: "It was a really good match because we were playing against a team that had just won the cup. Our strategy was to close the midfield and the long balls, and also control the defence. We didn't want to allow them to score and this strategy worked pretty well for us. The one point we won tonight is like a win for us because every point now matters to us to avoid the drop."

The National’s verdict

Wahda could not take full advantage of Al Wasl’s defeat on the previous night but the important thing is they still moved above them to third spot in the AGL table.

If Emirates can repeat this kind of tenacious play in their final four games of the season then they should comfortably finish the campaign clear of the relegation zone.

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