Jazira leave it almost too late before snatching victory from Al Ain

Ricardo Oliveira scored twice within five minutes as Al Jazira rallied from a goal down to defeat Al Ain 3-1 in the League Cup Thursday night at the Al Nahyan stadium.

Al Ain, in purple, had Al Jazira covered most of the night but Jazira broke through in the final minutes to snatch three points in UAE League Cup play. Mostafa Reda / Al Ittihad

AL JAZIRA 3 AL AIN 1

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Al Jazira - Oliveira 79’, 85’, Matar 90’

Al Ain - Diaky 36’

Man of the match - Ricardo Oliveira (Al Jazira)

ABU DHABI // Walter Zenga insisted in doing the “simple things right” as his Al Jazira rallied from a goal down to win 3-1 against Al Ain in the League Cup.

Ricardo Oliveira scored twice within five minutes and substitute Yasir Matar added a third in injury time to give their Italian manager his first win in two games at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

The Brazilian Oliveira cancelled Ibrahim Diaky’s first half goal with a low shot and put the home side ahead when he beat the offside trap to score the second.

Diaky had controlled and scored off a long ball from Asamoah Gyan in the first half. He pushed the ball between two defenders before firing it past Khaled Al Senani, the Jazira goalkeeper.

“First I am happy for the players because they never gave up until the end,” Zenga said.

“To win three points was a good confidence for the result for the team. We did the simple things right in this game.

“The players helped each other and knew from the work they had done in the past two days that they can do something. They have been working very good and very hard, and the reward was three points.

“My job is to improve every player in the club. I repeat to all the players that the name on the back of the shirt is not important. I need good performance.”

It was a contrast to Zenga’s first game in charge when they squandered a 2-0 lead to settle for 2-2 draw against Dubai in the Arabian Gulf League last week.

For the Al Ain coach Quique Sanchez Flores, it was his first defeat in five games in all competitions.

“We have to play the Cup matches with different combinations and this is bound to happen,’ the Spaniard said.

“We still played well but couldn’t finish it as we fell flat and committed too many errors in the last quarter. This means we still have a lot of work ahead as we try to strike the right balance in each and every game we play.”

AL SHAAB 3 AL WAHDA 2

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Al Shaab - Essa 45’, 90’, Quirino 51’ Al Wahda - Ahmed 39’, 89’

Red card - Saeed Al Kathiri (Al Wahda)

After Mohammed Ahmed’s second goal evened things up and gave Wahda hope of leaving with a point in League Cup Group A, Essa Mohammed, above left, struck at the 90th minute to ensure three points for Shaab. Ahmed opened the scoring at the 39th minute and Essa levelled for Shaab at the 45th. The Brazilian Thiago Quirino also scored for Shaab.

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EMIRATES 1 AL NASR 2

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Emirates - Jair 52’ Al Nasr - Luis 12’, Toure 30’

Eder Luis opened the scoring and Ibrahima Toure continued to make his presence felt, adding needed insurance at the 30th minute as Nasr improved to six points and fourth place in Group B with the away win. Emirates got a goal at the 52nd minute but were unable to add an equaliser and stand third from the bottom of the table. They meet Al Shabab, firmly at the foot of the table, in their next match on November 13. Nasr will face Al Ahli next round.