Al Wahda 1 Sharjah 1
Al Wahda Tagliabue 67'
Sharjah Lima 12'
Man of the match Leonardo Lima (Sharjah)
ABU DHABI // Jose Peseiro said he will continue to experiment in the Arabian Gulf Cup even as Al Wahda can still qualify for the knockout round in the competition.
Wahda are on two points from three games but they still have nine points to play for after Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against Sharjah at the Al Nahyan Stadium.
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Leonardo Lima put the visitors ahead and Sebastian Tagliabue cancelled it but the Argentine failed to score from a spot kick, which could have given Peseiro’s side all three points.
“He tried something different and made a mess of it. I am not complaining about any player but satisfied with their performance on the night,” the Portuguese said.
“We will continue to provide our reserves more playing opportunities and blood some of the youngsters in this competition. If they are good enough, let them win.
“We did well against a strong Sharjah side and could have even won had Sebastian been successful with the spot kick. It didn’t happen but I have no issues with it.”
Lima rose above the Wahda defence to head home an Ahmed Khamis corner to put the visitors ahead.
Tagliabue timed his run and jump to near perfection to head a right cross from Mohammed Bangash to the back of the net.
Bangash won a spot kick five minutes later when he was pulled down by a clumsy tackle from substitute Abdullah Darwish but Tagliabue’s poor effort from the spot was blocked by Rashid Ahmed, the Sharjah goalkeeper.
“We started the game well before losing our way a bit in the middle period,” said Paulo Bonamigo, the Sharjah coach.
“We recovered after the equaliser to create a few scoring chances. However, a draw for us was a satisfying result as we still have a chance to qualify for the knockout round if we can win one game from the remaining two.”
Bonamigo said they too had five players absent, with two on national duty in the Gulf Cup.
“It is normal to miss some of the players as the Cup competition is designed to provide the fringe players more playing opportunities. All teams have this problem,” said the Brazilian.
In other Arabian Gulf Cup action, Caio Canedo Correa netted two goals as visiting Al Wasl unloaded on Kalba with a 5-0 victory on Tuesday night.
Ahmed Al Shamisi scored the opening goal in the 10th minute while Abdullah Mohammed Kazim and substitute Abdullah Malalla added second-half goals.
In the other game, Grafite scored twice within 15 minutes in the second half as Al Ahli fought back for a 2-1 win over Emirates in Dubai. German Gustavo Herrera scored for Emirates.
apassela@thenational.ae
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