Ali Mabkhout treble helps Al Jazira record first win under coach Henk ten Cate

Al Jazira received a timely confidence-booster ahead of their Asian Champions League qualifier with a resounding 5-1 triumph over Dibba in the Arabian Gulf League on Thursday evening.

Ali Mabkhout of Al Jazira (left) celebrates scoring a goal during the Arabian Gulf League football match between Al Jazira and Al Nasr, at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. 22 November 2015. Photo: Al Ittihad
Powered by automated translation

Al Jazira 5

Mabkhout 33’, 42’, 90+2’, Jones 73’, Park 86’

Dibba 1

Kabi 22’

Story of the match

ABU DHABI // Al Jazira received a timely confidence-booster ahead of their Asian Champions League qualifier with a resounding 5-1 triumph over Dibba in the Arabian Gulf League on Thursday evening.

Ali Mabkhout netted a hat-trick while Kenwyne Jones and Park Jong-woo also added their names to the scoresheet for Jazira to rally from an early Boris Kabi goal and record their first win under coach Henk ten Cate.

Jazira play Al Sadd of Qatar in the ACL play-off on Tuesday at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, but they could not have got off to a worse start at the same venue on Thursday, falling behind on 22 minutes as Kabi knocked in a ball that fell kindly in his path after a free kick from Bakary Kone bounced off a couple of heads inside the area.

UAE international striker Mabkhout struck twice inside nine minutes though for the home side to go into the break leading.

The Emirati opened the scoring with a glancing header off a Thiago Neves corner and the pair combined again when Mabkhout collected a long ball from the Brazilian before taking it past a defender and beating Dibba goalkeeper Humaid Abdulla at his near post.

Mabkhout then turned provider for strike partner Jones, setting up the Trinidad and Tobago forward with a through pass to extend the lead to 3-1 before Park got in on the act four minutes from time. Mabkhout completed his hat-trick by tapping home a rebound to complete the rout.

Read more: Al Ain and Al Ahli must aim to get back to winning ways - AGL talking points

Man of the match

Ali Mabkhout, the Jazira forward scored twice in quick succession and made an assist early in the second half to set the platform for his team. Completed a fine hat-trick deep into second-half stoppage time.

What the managers said

Henk ten Cate, Al Jazira coach: "This victory was the players' victory, not mine. I knew that for sure, because after the last training I saw from a distance the whole team together in a circle formation. They were talking and discussing. I don't know what they were talking about but I guess it was this game.

“There was a lot of pressure ahead of this game. We haven’t had a good result since I took charge in the middle of the season. We started nervously and when we conceded an early goal I got afraid. But we came back by scoring two fantastic goals. This is the way we need to move forward. I think things are falling into place and the improvement will come little by little with time. Winning this game was a huge step forward.”

Theodore Bucker, Dibba coach: "We know it will be a very difficult match for us because the other team had been struggling for a win. They are a stronger side than us without any doubt but we also made too many mistakes.

“We had a couple of easy chances to score and had we got the ball onto the back of the net, the result could have been different. We may still not have won but could have been close.”

Read more: Kenwyne Jones to Jazira, Khamis Esmail to Ahli and the eight biggest AGL winter transfers

The National’s verdict

Jazira were impressive in their first win under Dutchman Ten Cate. They began cautiously but grew in confidence as the game progressed to play true to their potential. This could be a turning point in the Abu Dhabi club’s season

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport