ABU DHABI // Playing four matches in 11 days finally took its toll on Al Jazira. They squandered a three-goal half-time lead as 10-man Al Wahda made a remarkable comeback to snatch a 4-4 draw on Saturday night at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
In injury time, Ismail Matar launched a long ball and Eisa Ahmed rose to beat Ali Kasheif, the Jazira goalkeeper, with a spectacular header to stun the home side at the end of a dramatic 90 minutes.
“Had we played the first half as we did in the second half, we could have gone home with a better result,” said Jose Peseiro, the Wahda coach.
“I didn’t give up hope, even when we were trailing by three goals at half time. I spoke to the players, but after the game I am not too sure if it was the mentality of the players or the tactics that changed the game.
“All the same, it was a fantastic effort from my players. It is never easy for any team to come back to draw a game after trailing 3-0 at half time.”
Ahmed Al Ghilani scored twice, the goals coming on either side of an Abdelaziz Barrada penalty, as Jazira went into half time with a 3-0 lead.
Al Ghilani’s second goal was the pick of the bunch. The 18 year old collected a through ball from Ali Mabkhout, ran inside the box, drew goalkeeper Ali Al Hosani out of position and curled a shot from a difficult angle that left three Wahda defenders helplessly watching the ball fly over their heads and crash against the back of the net.
However, Wahda struck back twice within nine minutes in the second half through Matar and Ahmed to reduce the lead to a single goal.
Felipe Caicedo, who replaced Mabkhout, scored three minutes after coming off the bench and, when Wahda’s Adel Abdulla saw red for a second yellow, it looked as though Jazira had the game in the bag.
But Sebastian Tagliabue pulled one back on 78 minutes before Ahmed struck at the death.
“We had the match in our hands but we gifted them two goals, the first and the last, to allow them to come back into the game,” said Walter Zenga, the Jazira coach.
"I cannot blame the players. I am happy with their effort, knowing they were playing their fourth match in 11 days and it is very tough. We made three substitutions because we knew we had some tired players.
“Some of them lost concentration in the second half because they were tired playing three tough away games coming in to this derby game.”
Jazira were returning to league action after three games on the road – two in the Asian Champions League in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and a victory over Al Dhafra to reach the League Cup final.
Wahda looked rusty, particularly in the first half, as they were playing for the first time in three weeks against the same opponent to whom they lost 1-0 in the League Cup at the same stadium, but they will take heart from a battling performance
apassela@thenational.ae
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