ABU DHABI // Baniyas revived their hopes of a last-four place in the Arabian Gulf Cup with an emphatic 3-0 thrashing of Al Wahda on Sunday night at the Al Nahyan stadium.
Joan Verdu broke the deadlock from a free kick on the half-hour mark while Bandar Al Ahbabi and Ahmed Al Mahri scored twice within three minutes after the break to put the visitors in command.
“The team has been playing some good football in recent times and we arrived here with a lot of confidence,” said Luis Garcia, the Baniyas coach.
“Wahda, as we all know, is one of the top teams in the league whether they are at full strength or not.
“It was important to score first against them and that provided my players the motivation and confidence.”
Jose Peseiro, the Wahda coach, said it was hard to motivate his players as they were already out of the cup competition.
“They were going through the motions while Baniyas were playing for the three points,” the Portuguese said.
The result took Baniyas’s tally to 10 points and moved them to second behind Sharjah (11), with both teams having a game in hand against Al Dhafra and Emirates.
Dhafra (seven) and Emirates meet in a crucial game on Monday night.
Baniyas pressed from the start and, after 30 minutes, Verdu stepped up to a free kick 30 yards out. His effort bounced in front of the goalkeeper and crashed in to the corner of the net.
In the opening minute of the second half, Al Ahbabi tapped in a cross from Yousuf Jaber, and a few minutes later the scorer turned provider when Al Ahbabi slipped the ball towards Al Mahri to score from the near side of the post.
This round of games was finished off with Al Ahli’s 2-0 result over Fujairah, but it was too late and too little for them to remain in the cup race.
Fujairah have failed to win in the cup, and Ahli scored in a lacklustre match at the Rashid stadium when Saeed Jassim headed a curling cross from Saeed Ahmed in the 24th minute.
Mohammed Sabeel doubled the lead in the 38th minute from a headed clearance from the Fujairah defence.
Ibrahim Diaky scored two late goals to power Al Ain to a 3-1 victory over Ajman to keep their slim hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium.
Mubarak Hassan’s own goal gave the home side an 18th minute lead, but the visitors equalised through Driss Fettouhi.
The game looked to be heading for a draw when Diaky struck nine minutes from time and added a second four minutes into added time.
On Monday night, Al Wasl will go all out to end Al Nasr’s 100 per cent record in the cup competition and try to improve their own chances of securing a semi-final spot at the Al Maktoum stadium.
Nasr are on 12 points and Wasl on seven, both having played four games apiece in Group A.
Al Shabab are on nine but have only one more game, against Ajman on Friday.
Al Dhafra need to win against Emirates to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout round, while Al Jazira play Kalba in a game that will have no bearing in the competition.
apassela@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
