Dibba 0-8 Al Wasl
WAS: Canedo 2’ (pen), Mendes 13’, 82’, De Lima 23’, 63’, 71’, 87’, Khamis 60’
Dibba were on the receiving end of an emphatic Al Wasl backlash at Zabeel Stadium. Last week's 2-1 reverse to Al Ain was a first defeat in eight matches for Rodolfo Arruabarrena's men in the Arabian Gulf League, and they took out their frustrations on the visitors on Thursday night.
The night belonged to the prolific Brazilian Fabio de Lima, who added a second-half hat-trick to a solitary goal in the opening 45 minutes as Wasl took their tally to 25 points to regain the lead in the AGL table, at least until Friday's match between second-placed Al Jazira and the promoted club Hatta.
The game was over inside the first 23 minutes as the Brazilian triumvirate of Caio Canedo, Ronaldo Mendes and De Lima were on target.
The writing was on the wall for the visitors after only two minutes when Canedo rammed home a penalty after he was pulled down in the area by Abdullah Naser. Canedo lasted only until the 21st minute when he limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, replaced by the Portuguese Helder Barbosa.
Nine minutes later Mendes fired a low shot that was badly misjudged by the Dibba goalkeeper Fahd Mohammed for Wasl to double the lead.
The visiting goalkeeper was again at fault when he fumbled a low shot from Mendes allowing De Lima to tap in the third goal to make it 3-0. Mendes made a second assist, a spectacular back-heel, for Khalil Khameis to make it 4-0 on the hour.
De Lima added to Dibba’s misery three minutes later before going on to add two more on 71 and 87 minutes. In between, Mendes added a second to his name to complete the rout.
Ali Salmin, the Wasl midfielder, said his side were keen to get back to winning ways after their previous two matches ended in a draw against champions Al Ahli followed by the defeat to Al Ain.
“We had a remarkable run before the last two games which were against two teams that have won the league between them for the last five years,” Salmin said.
“The coach wanted a response regardless who we were playing and we did. We were fortunate to score early and everything fell in place for us in this game. It was hard luck for Dibba.”
In the other games, Makhete Diop score a goal in each half for Al Dhafra to emerge 3-0 winners over Al Shabab at the Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium.
Omar Khrbin opened the scoring on 13 minutes and Diop doubled the lead two minutes later before sealing the three points on 77 minutes for Dhafra to climb two places in to seventh place.00
Baniyas meanwhile continue on a frightening course after losing 3-0 to Al Nasr. Masoud Sulaiman opened the scoring on 24 minutes before a Hasan Al Muharrami own goal and Salem Saleh strike in the second half rounded things out. Baniyas, who scored their first win of the season last time out, remain on four points, one off winless Dibba for the safety of 12th.
And Emirates club continue along at the bottom of the table, taking a 2-1 loss to Kalba away. Malian forward Modiba Maiga netted a double, including the winner three minutes into added time to seal Emirates’ eighth loss in 11 matches, with just three points to show from this season. Promoted Kalba meanwhile saw their points tally rise to eight, giving them a measure of comfort for the time being in the relegation battle.
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