Al Wahda and Al Jazira draw

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  • The Al Nahyan Stadium was half-full for the Derby clash (AGL photo credit).

    Attempting to judge the merits of potential title challengers during these humid early weeks is not easy.

    Al Wahda recovered from a dreary goalless start to the 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League at promoted Hatta to swarm over a sorry Al Jazira yesterday, who had been exceptional when seeing off Al Wasl.

    A fierce low shot to mark his first top-flight effort from bewildering youngster Suhail Al Mansoori should have been added to, with 25-goal Golden Boot Sebastian Tagliabue, alone, perplexingly wasting two glorious chances within the opening 11 minutes.

    Boss Henk ten Cate’s ability as a miracle worker than reappeared as the Pride of Abu Dhabi rose from the doldrums to produce a commanding second-half fightback, during which defender Fares Juma’s headed equaliser was the minimum reward. UAE marksman Ali Mabkhout will also wonder how he nodded wide when invitingly placed during injury time.

    “It was a game of two halves,” Ten Cate said. “We didn’t play well in the first half but came back strongly in the second half.

    “It wasn’t a good game but I’ll take this result as a positive.”

    Al Jazira celebrate scoring.

    Al Jazira celebrate scoring.

    The challenge now for the man who turned December’s relegation fodder into May’s President’s Cup winners is to ensure the Wasl guillotining and yesterday’s response after the break are the norm.

    The ex-Barcelona and Chelsea assistant had stood aghast on the touchline as his side required unforeseen clemency fromTagliabue not to be out of the capital derby by the quarter-hour mark.

    A tame low shot followed a delightful pass from mesmerising Chile maestro Jorge Valdivia, who was celebrating an international recall, while the Argentine striker nearly broke the crossbar from five yards when picked out by the excellent Al Mansoori’s centre.

    Clarets boss Javier Aguirre remained steadfast behind his star striker, convinced he will score the goals to accrue crucial points in the future.

    He said: “We had plenty of chances to close the game but for some strange reason, we couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net.

    “It’s quite strange to see a player like Tagliabue miss so many scoring chances, but then this is not unusual in football.

    “I am pretty sure he will overcome this difficult period and score for us again.”

    Pressure was maintained by the hosts at a half-full Al Nahyan Stadium and Jazira finally cracked on 38 minutes.

    Flowing interplay on the left by full-back Ahmed Rashed and Al Mansoori allowed the winger to smash through UAE goalkeeper Ali Khaseif’s legs from a tight angle.

    This capped off a torrid half for Whites right-back Mohammed Fawzi. It also raised the question of why his tormentor has only played in 25 AGL games by 23-years old.

    Wahda’s grip critically slackened after the break, with Aguirre guilty of retrenchment with his substitutions.

    Such a decline cannot be tolerated by a club eager to transform last term’s third-placed finish and securing of the Arabian Gulf Cup into something more substantial.

    This was almost punished just past the hour mark when striker Mabkhout narrowly failed to chip in a third goal of the season once he skipped around keeper Adel Al Hosani.

    The dam finally broke 10 minutes later, a towering header from centre-back Juma off Brazil playmaker Thiago Neves’ out-swinging corner just reward for a resurgent second-half display.

    This reversal should have been completed at the death, Mabkhout contriving to miss from close range when picked out by probing substitute Khalfan Mubarak.

    Photography by Chris Whiteoak.

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