Saad saves Shabab against ten-man Wahda

Salem Saad saved Al Shabab the blushes with an 86th minute equaliser as the hosts split points with Al Wahda.

DUBAI // Salem Saad saved Al Shabab's blushes with an 86th minute equaliser as the hosts split points with Al Wahda in a six-goal Etisalat Emirates Cup thriller tonight. Saad saved Shabab from certain embarrassment after a ten-man Wahda had taken a 3-1 lead courtesy of Saeed Salem al Kuthairi's first-half brace and Essa Ahmed's third in the 77th minute. Musawengosi Mguni, in his most impressive outing in an Al Shabab shirt as yet, opened the scores in the 19th minute. Suroor Salem brought the hosts back into the game with a header in the 80th minute and then Saad grabbed a point for Shabab in the tense closing minutes. Al Wahda's Yasser Matar was sent off in the 44th minute, yet Shabab failed to break down the visitor's dogged resistance despite putting four men upfront in search of goals. Truth be told, the hosts were forced on the defensive from the very start. Off the ground, the Al Wahda fans outnumbered the home brigade by many, on the ground, the visitors were attacking in numbers. In the 8th minute, the Tunisian Karim Aouadhi unleashed a stunning left footer from close to the half-line, which Salem Abdullah Rashid did well to fist over. Rashid was again called into action as Matar let loose a cannon from a similar distance in the 11th minute. While Abdullah was being tested, the Wahda keeper Ali Rabea had a quieter time. Al Shabab's first entry into the Wahda box came in the 12th minute, and even then Rabea was hardly stretched; Meherdad Oladi failed to connect off a cross and the ball sailed away harmlessly. Seven minutes later, however, Rabea was left stranded as Mguni put Al Shabab ahead with a classy finish. The lanky Zimbabwean international raced past his two markers to reach a long ball on the right from Issa Obaid and then volleyed on the run over the advancing Wahda keeper into the far corner for his second goal of the season. Mguni celebration was long, but Al Shabab's joy was short-lived as Saeed Salem al Kuthairi quickly equalised. He was positioned perfectly to head home an Essa Ahmed floating cross from the right. Kuthairi scored a second in the 37th minute with an assertive finish from the top of the box. Receiving Abdulla al Noobi's 30-yarder from the left, Kuthairi was in absolute control as he first wrong-footed Abdullah Darwish and then turned away from Issa Mohammed Ibraheem to finish with stinging volley that deflected off keeper Rashid on its way into the net. As Al Shabab went in search of the equaliser, the pressure told on Wahda, and especially Yasser Matar. With just a minute left for the break, Matar lost his cool as he brought down Oladi outside the box and then walked over the sprawled Iranian's hand. Matar had received a yellow card for the first offence and was given the marching orders for his second, which looked accidental in replays. Starting the second half with a numerical advantage, Al Shabab made all the play and Mguni almost equalised with a header in the 53rd minute. Suroor Salem, who replaced Issa Obaid in the second half, then had a great opportunity to put Shabab on par in the 58th minute. But, with an open goal in front of him, failed to connect with a cross from Carlos Renato. Desperate for goals, Shabab coach Toninho Cerezo sent in his talisman striker Salem Saad in the 61st minute, pulling out the Uruguayan débutante Oscar Fernandez to reduce a man in defence. Saad was immediately in the thick of action and should have scored with a spectacular side volley in the 66th minute, if not for an alert Wahda captain Tawfeeq Abdul Razzaq, who headed it away. Al Shabab were unlucky again in the 72nd minute as Mguni's header deflected off Oladi into the horizontal bar and then bounced away to safety. Seconds later, Mguni got another header in but keeper Rabea had it well covered. Sitting back and absorbing the pressure, Wahda almost scored a stunning third off a counter-attack in the 75th minute, but Essa Ahmed was denied by keeper Rashid. Two minutes later, Rashid could do little as Ahmed feigned across three defenders and then jumped over the keeper to score a third goal for Wahda. Suroor put Shabab back into the game in the 80th minute as he headed home a well-measured floater from Oladi, and then Saad equalised in the 86th minute with a freakish curler that swirled past Mguni and eluded the Wahda keeper. [e-mail]