Al Wahda manager Jose Morais was full of praise for his side after they battled back to clinch a 2-1 win over Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad in their Asian Champions League Elite opener at a bouncing Al Nahyan Stadium on Monday night.
Lucas Pimenta pounced on a rebound to stab home the winner from close range after goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic had saved Ala Zhir’s header in the final seconds of eight minutes of added time to get Wahda's campaign off to a winning start.
Wahda dominated the game after the SPL side were reduced to 10 men when Muhannad Al Shanqiti was dismissed – following a VAR review – for a foul on Facundo Kruspzky in the 37th minute.
However, the hosts wasted several scoring opportunities while Ittihad regrouped and defended well for long spells.
“Sometimes in football, we make a mistake to think that one player less allows us to go forward and take a lot more of offensive responsibility, ignoring all the defensive tasks that you need to do,” Wahda boss Morais said.
“We faced a good, strong and quality team. So, it was important, and this is one of the things that I'm very happy with my players because they could keep the discipline in the game and even attacking, when the opponent was defending with all the 10 players in this case, including the goalkeeper when they lost one of the players.
“When they were defending, we had to manage to make the circulation of the ball with a good speed, at the same time with precision, in order for us not to lose possession that could create possibilities of counter-attack for the opponent.”
Morais pointed out the threat posed on counter attacks by the rapid former Tottenham player Steven Bergwijn, ex-Aston Villa forward Moussa Diaby and the former Lyon and France star Houssem Aouar.
“They are fast and quality players and could damage our defence from counter attacks, if provided the opportunities,” the Portuguese manager said.
“We had to always be careful about this situation in order for us to be able to score, but especially not conceding a goal, because if you concede in situations like this, it's not possible to make two mistakes and recover against big teams like the opponent we faced.”
Bergwijn, unmarked and 30 yards away from the Wahda goal, fired a stunning shot to beat Zayed Al Hammadi for the lead on 21 minutes.
Caio Canedo cancelled it out just past the hour before Pimenta netted the winner for the home side, sending the Wahda fans into wild celebrations.
Wahda could have been home and dry before then. They had a golden opportunity to take the lead but Omar Khrbin’s neat attempt in front of the goal was pushed out by Rajkovic.
Wahda continued pushing after the break, with Dusan Tadic’s header from a corner crashing against the crossbar 10 minutes into the second half, while Khrbin and Kruspzky were both off target with further efforts. Khrbin’s close-range strike two minutes from the end thumped against the near post.
However, all those wasted opportunities were soon forgotten when Pimenta pounced on a rebound to grab the winner.
Laurent Blanc, the Ittihad manager, conceded the balance of the match was changed after they were reduced to 10 men.
“My players did well under the circumstances by playing to detail with an outstanding defensive ploy until the final seconds of the game,” the Frenchman said.
“It was heartbreaking to lose the game in the last seconds of the added time but that was the reality. My players did their best to share a point but we just failed to achieve that tonight.”
Conspicuous by their absence for Ittihad were the French stars Karim Benzema and midfielder N’Golo Kante, both still recovering from injuries.
“Injuries are quite common and we won’t take their absence as an excuse,” Blanc added.
