Story of the match
ABU DHABI // Al Jazira went four points clear at the top of the Arabian Gulf League after emerging victorious from a bad-tempered match at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium against Al Wahda that saw the visitors finish the first half with just eight men.
Rashed Alsuwaidi, the Wahda goalkeeper, was sent off after just four minutes while Sebastian Tagliabue and Balazs Dzsudzsak were also red-carded last night as this Abu Dhabi derby came to the boil. The game was as good as over by then anyway as Jazira headed for the interval with a 3-1 lead.
Alsuwaidi was shown a straight red card when he charged outside the area and handled the ball in a bid to stop Ali Mabkhout, who was through on goal.
Striker Tagliabue was also given a straight red card for treading down the back of Mohammed Fawzi’s leg and Hungarian midfielder Dzsudzsak was the third Wahda player sent off following a spat with referee Yaqoub Al Hammadi as they walked down the tunnel.
Jazira made their numerical advantage count, taking a 14th-minute lead through Ali Mabkhout. The Emirati striker latched onto a picked up a pass from Leonardo to knock in at his second attempt after replacement goalkeeper Ali Al Hosanihad blocked his initial effort.
That lead was short lived however as Argentine striker Tagliabue raced onto a long ball from Dzsudzsak to drill past the advancing Ali Kasheif in the Jazira goal three minutes later.
Leonardo regained the lead for the hosts on 21 minutes when his cross from the left eluded everyone to eventually nestle in Al Hosani’s far post.
The Brazilian added a second in added time of the first half. Ailton Almeida and substitute Sultan Bargash rounded off the win with a second-half strikes.
Man of the match
Leonardo has made an instant impact since signing from Asian champions Jeonbuk Hyundai motors, with the Brazilian twice on the scoresheet as well as laying on one assist in the 5-1 win.
What the managers said:
Henk ten Cate, Al Jazira: "A good game from our side. We played well for the first 45 minutes and created chances right from the beginning."
When asked if the game was marred by the refereeing decision. He said: “It’s not my business if the referee makes a decision to send off players. I’m not the one to judge and I never speak about referees anyway. It was not a game anymore in the second half. I can’t say anything more.”
On taking a four-point lead over second-placed Al Ain, he added: “I can only say that I’m proud of this team and the work we do day in and day out.”
Javier Aguirre, Al Wahda: "I thought we still had a chance to compete with 10 players but when Sebastian [Tagliabue] was shown the red card the game ended for us. The referee killed the game. He looked angry with our players, perhaps. I can only think he was reacting to our 6-0 win over Jazira [in the President's Cup two weeks ago].
“We came here to play a good game for everyone to watch but we are going back very disappointed.”
The National’s verdict:
After Emirates had shocked Al Ain in the early game, Jazira had to take advantage to and put further daylight between them and the Garden City Club. They duly obliged with an emphatic performance, keeping their heads while Wahda players lost theirs.
Other game
Al Ain’s title challenge suffered another blow when they went down 3-2 to Emirates, a team hovering above the drop zone.
Mourad Batna, Emirates’ Moroccan forward, struck twice, on 22 and 73 minutes, before Osman Sow, the Swedish striker on loan from Chinese club Henan Jianye, netted the winner seven minutes from time.
The visitors had earlier levelled the score through Brazilian winger Caio before second-half substitute Ibrahim Diaky had put them ahead on 71 minutes. Al Ain were held by bottom team Baniyas 1-1 last week.
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