Embarrassment is never far away when Al Jazira are concerned.
The return match against Tractor Sazi didn’t see a repeat of last week’s humiliating start to their Group C campaign in the AFC Champions League. Yet the performance in this 1-0 loss was every bit as insipid as the 4-0 capitulation in Iran.
Only the emergence of UAE Under-23 playmaker Khalfan Mubarak from the bench provided any positivity on a night when every other starter could have joined high-profile stars Ali Mabkhout and Thiago Neves in being hooked.
These unsightly defeats have not come against a team expected to become Asian kings in November. It is damning a team sat a distant seventh in the Persian Gulf Pro League have claimed such effortless triumphs, leaving the Pride of Abu Dhabi with an uphill challenge to escape their pool.
The four-consecutive wins before their group-stage commitments began now look illusionary. The current eighth spot in the Arabian Gulf League is a better barometer.
Incredibly, boss Henk ten Cate used his post-match press conference to praise his lacklustre players.
“I am proud of my team,” he said. “I think we played the best game so far – I thought we deserved more.
40 minutes in and Tractor Sazi are leading 1-0 against Al-Jazira. Rahmani's goal: https://t.co/jsXSfyN5xY #ACL2016
— Ahdaaf (@ahdaafme) March 2, 2016
“I remember when I was at Panathinaikos, we had one point from our first three games but still finished top of our (UEFA Champions League) group. Everything is possible.”
Pointless passing which verged on the suicidal dictated the early exchanges for Jazira at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium. After several close calls, they were finally punished on 31 minutes.
A careless header back from defensive midfielder Yaqoub Yousif fell to imposing Tractor target man Farzad Hatami. His snapped pass put Bakhtiar Rahmani behind sleeping UAE centre-back Fares Juma, a cute chest and volley beating goalkeeper Khalid Alseenani – in for the injured Ali Khaseif – at his near post.
This strike made it three goals in two matches for the sometime-Iran winger against Henk ten Cate’s men.
UAE forward and 2015 Asian Cup top scorer Mabkhout was rightly dragged off at the interval, €11 million (Dh45m) Brazil playmaker Neves soon following him.
A reaction wasn’t forthcoming. It took until the 84th minute for winger Sultan Al Shamsi to snatch at a presentable chance when fellow substitute Kenwyne Jones’ header from Khalfan’s cross was smothered by goalkeeper Mohammadreza Akhbari.
Luckily for Jazira, impending top-flight opponents Al Ain are in similarly-miserable form. Don’t expect a classic during Sunday’s ‘Al Clasico’.
