Al Wahda moved up to fifth in the Arabian Gulf League with a routine 3-1 win over Al Wasl at the Al Nahyan Stadium on Friday night.
Sebastian Tagliabue did the damage for the hosts as he struck a goal in each half before captain Ismail Matar added some gloss to the scoreline with an outrageous third.
Wasl rarely looked like getting back into the proceedings but did grab a late consolation goal as Ricardo Oliveira stroked home an injury-time penalty.
The Brazilian’s first goal for his new club was scored against fullback Eisa Santo though after thedefender was forced between the sticks once home goalkeeper Ali Mohamed received his second yellow card for the trip on Oliveira that brought the spot kick.
“I think it was a just victory for us,” said Wahda coach Jose Peseiro, who admitted his side had not been at their best in the first half. “We have believed until now that we can fight for the top. For that our team keeps the enthusiasm, the motivation to fight for that.
“It’s not easy because there are six teams that can fight for fourth position. Now we’re fifth but if we lose one match we can drop down.”
Tagliabue’s battle with Wasl’s onloan Al Dhafra centre-back Hassan Zahran was a feature of the firsthalf, and the striker had already put him on his back before he turned inside him in the eighth minute and unleashed a strike from the edge of the area that kissed the post as it went in.
Wasl’s main problem has been a lack of goals, and despite being back on his old stamping ground Saeed Al Kathiri was anonymous throughout.
Mariano Donda and Oliveira carried some fight but the Brazilian’s flick 10 minutes from the end of the half evaded the far post.
The former Al Jazira man produced a moment of magic just after the break, to lob the ball over Abdulla Alnobi and create a shooting chance, but it proved a false dawn.
Damian Diaz and Zahran stuck their heads in on one another minutes later before the latter took a theatrical tumble.
But the incident, labelled “normal” by Wasl coach Saleem Abdulrahman, had no bearing on the game as Wahda made sure of victory 15 minutes from the end as Rashed Ali dived over Tagliabue’s speculative strike.
And the ‘keeper was left grasping at thin air once again before the full-time whistle as Matar beat Humaid Hamed and Zahran on the edge of the box before blasting home.
There was still time for Mohamed to see red and Oliveira to notch his first Wasl goal, but the final insult was dished out by Al Kathiri who claimed on TV that his new side lacked spirit.
“I can’t say anything about this,” said Abdulrahman. “What we need to do is work, work, work.”
