ABU DHABI // After Hamdan Al Kamali found the net twice for Al Wahda last night, the home support at Al Nahyan Stadium would have been forgiven for believing they had secured three points and a two-point gap to leaders Al Jazira.
It was not to be, however, as Emirates striker Alexandro da Silva scored twice in added time to earn his side an invaluable point away from home and snatch two from Wahda. The draw left the hosts four points adrift of the top.
Wahda coach Jose Peseiro said his side "conceded goals at the end of the match because they were committed, obviously, mistakenly".
“We made some changes in this game in terms of players. I gave a chance to other players since I trust them all,” the Portuguese said.
Despite the dispiriting ending to the game, Peseiro said he believed his team "played a better game with this squad than our previous game", which was a 1-0 away victory over last-place side Kalba.
Al Kamali, the UAE international, proved to be the inspiration for his club.
On 36 minutes, Damian Diaz won a free kick 30 yards from the Emirates goal for Wahda. It was Al Kamali who dispatched the set piece into the top-left corner with a deadly strike after Diaz laid the ball onto his right boot.
Emirates brought on Khaled Khamis for Haitham Al Matroushi at half-time.
Emirates coach Paulo Comelli said this was a key moment.
“I think he made a difference, and we played a better second half. I can say he was key,” Comelli said.
Peseiro lamented a weaker second-half performance from his team.
“The second half, we didn’t control the game as we do, which is to control the ball,” the Wahda coach said
The game looked to be over after 70 minutes, when a penalty was awarded to the home side. Emirates left-back Hamdan Qassim was judged to have pushed over Wahda winger Amer Omar in the box.
It was Al Kamali who again stepped up, dispatching his penalty in the bottom left.
It seemed Wahda had seen out the game, but a poorly defended corner in the 90th minute allowed Alexandro to find the corner from four yards.
It went from bad to worse for Wahda. The referee pointed to the spot after Adel Abdullah was adjudged to have fouled Khamis, the half-time substitute, in the box. Alexandro placed the penalty in the bottom-left corner, levelling the match.
Peseiro said his side “need to have a strong reaction now”.
“We still believe in our chance to compete,” he said.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @NatSportUAE
