The 3-2 victory in the Abu Dhabi derby against Al Wahda will give Al Jazira confidence as they march forward in the Arabian Gulf League title race, according to star forward Ali Mabkhout.
The UAE attacker scored the second of Jazira’s goals as the Pride of Abu Dhabi put together back-to-back league wins to get their season up and running.
The 24-year-old combined with Brazilian Thiago Neves for his goal, making an intelligent run to beat the offside trap, before collecting Neves’ pass and holding off a
defender to coolly volley past visiting goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani.
“The win against Wahda in the derby is a big result and gives us confidence,” said Mabkhout, who netted his first AGL goal of the season.
“We needed these three points because we lost to Al Wasl and the team now have good confidence to fight for the league title.”
Mabkhout, who shone for the UAE at last year’s Gulf Cup and was the leading scorer at January’s Asia Cup in Australia as the UAE finished third, was grateful to team-mate Yaser Matar, who struck the winner against Wahda.
He said: “It was a difficult game. Jazira were good in the first half and scored two goals.
“We didn’t play well in the second half, I don’t know why, and we were made to pay by Wahda who controlled the second half.
“But Yaser saved us with his goal and this gives us the win and a special feeling because we made it difficult to win.”
Up next for Abel Braga’s side is a trip to Dibba Al Fujairah on Friday.
