Al Jazira made a flying start to their Fifa Club World Cup campaign after thrashing Tahitian side AS Pirae 4-1 at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The damage was done in a first half when Jazira found the net three times. Zayed Al Ameri tapped in a low cross from Mohamed Jamal to open the scoring in the fifth minute.
Abdoulav Diaby’s effort from inside the area ricocheted off Pirae goalkeeper Teva Durot’s legs and Ahmed Al Hashmi was quick to head home in the 25th minute. Milos Kosanovic added a third from a free-kick just outside the area just before half-time.
It could — and perhaps should — have been more. Jazira also had two goals ruled out, the first after a VAR referral following a handball call against Al Hashmi and the second from Al Ameri for offside.
Jazira manager Marcel Keizer made three changes in the second half, including the keeper Ali Khasheif, and that seemed to upset their rhythm and allowed Pirae back into the game just three minutes after the break courtesy of a disastrous own goal from Mohammed Rabii.
Keizer brought on striker Ali Mabkhout in place of Al Ameri on the 61st minute and it brought immediate success.
With the Pirae defence distracted by the presence of Mabkhout, Brazilian winger Victor Santos found Diaby unmarked on the right side of the box and the Malian curled a superb strike into the far corner of the net to restore Jazira's three-goal lead.
With the three-goal advantage regained, Jazira took their foot off the pedal as the looked to preserve energy for their second-round match against Asian champions Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.
Keizer’s decision to rest some of their players were understandable given that five of them only returned after their World Cup qualifying match against Iran on Tuesday.
Mabkhout was also returning from injury and the half-hour he spent on the pitch would have given him some much-needed game-time ahead of Sunday’s game.
On Saturday, the African champions Al Ashly of Egypt meet the Mexican side Monterrey at the Al Nahyan Stadium.
