DUBAI // It has been less than a month, but Al Wasl's President's Cup conquest over their city rivals Al Ahli seemed a distant memory.
Diego Maradona's team had won that derby 4-0 and the Argentine legend was over the moon. The days since have seen Wasl crash out of the President's Cup and slip rapidly down the Pro League table.
Wasl arrested that slide last night with a 2-1 win over their familiar foes, with a Mariano Donda penalty and a Youssef Mohammed own goal giving Maradona's team their first win in six Pro League matches. Grafite had earlier given the hosts a lead in the 36th minute.
"I would like to congratulate my players for an outstanding performance," Maradona said. "We conceded a goal in the first half, but played a really good game in the second and deserved to win."
Quique Sanchez Flores, the Ahli coach, said the defeat was hard to take because of some controversial decisions by officials.
"We have made a good match," he said. "We had good opportunities to score. This is a very hard [blow] for the team because we were working very hard during the week and during the match, but we can't control the positions of the referee."
He added: "Normally, I don't speak about referees … but this game is different because the decisions of this referee changed too much the things of the match. But I prefer to think that these are the things that happen in football and I am prepared to go on with this team."
Much has changed since the last match between these two teams, on December 18. A string of disappointing results had left Maradona frustrated, and the goalkeeper, Majid Naser, threatened to leave for another team over what he described as a lack of effort by his teammates. He later apologised.
Two foreign players, Edson Puch and Richard Porta, have been shown the door by Maradona and Mohammed Reza Khalatbari and Juan Ignacio Mercier have been brought in to strengthen a squad which had dropped 13 points in five previous league matches.
There have been some changes at Ahli as well, but most of them positive. Jakson Coelho left for Brazil after that match against Wasl, without first taking permission from club officials.
Coelho's departure and the ensuing controversy seemed to have galvanised the team and Ahli had not lost a match since, winning two of their three Pro League matches and drawing the other.
Wasl had lost three of their four matches in that period and conceded a 96th-minute equaliser against Al Nasr. In fact, they had not won a Pro League match since their victory in Ras Al Khaimah over Emirates on November 26.
The Wasl players have clearly been struggling with their confidence, but Sanchez Flores seems to have been gradually putting the self-belief back in his Ahli players.
They looked unshakeable as Wasl made most of the early action. Juan Manuel Olivera tested the Ahli keeper, Obaid Al Taweela, as early as the second minute and Mariano Donda brought the best out of the glove man in the 17th minute with a swirling free kick; an airborne Al Taweela punched it away.
As Wasl searched for the opener, their frail defence allowed Grafite to put Ahli ahead. No yellow jersey was anywhere close as Amer Mubarak tapped the ball forward for Grafite. Yaser Salem came rushing in, but a deft turn by the Brazilian took care of him and the ball was blasted home.
A goal down, Wasl seemed bereft of ideas as they slogged for the equaliser. Khalatbari then came up with one of his more notorious acts, diving to earn a penalty in the 76th minute. Replays showed the defender Mohammed had made no contact with the Iranian, but the referee thought otherwise and Donda converted to level the scores.
The unfortunate Mohammed then conceded an own goal in the 83rd minute to give Wasl the lead. The Lebanese jumped over Olivera to thwart him from heading a Khalatbari cross, but the ball bounced off the back of his head and into the net.
Dubai 2
Ibrahim 59', Hassan 88'
Al Jazira 4
Mousa 12', Oliveira 33', 50', Abdullah 65'
Ricardo Oliveira, above, moved near the top of the Pro League scorer’s list, one behind Al Ain’s Asamoah Gyan, with two goals at Dubai last night, helping the defending champions Al Jazira thump the hosts 4-2. The Brazilian struck Jazira’s second and third after Abdullah Mousa had given them a 12th-minute lead. Juma Abdullah scored their fourth in the 65th minute, Dubai now have only one victory from 11 matches.
Al Ain 4
Al Ain Malalla 59', 85', Scocco 83' (pen), 90'
Ajman 1
Ajman Toure 32'
A late burst of goals preserved Al Ain’s four-point lead at the top of the table. Ibrahima Toure’s powerful run and strike, his seventh league goal of the season, opened the scoring for the visitors. But the leaders stayed calm. Mohammed Malalla’s header was ruled to have crossed the line just before the hour to equalise, The Argentine Ignacio Scocco then netted from the spot with seven minutes left, before he and Malalla both scored another.
