Luis Milla is a man under pressure after his struggling Al Jazira side slumped to a 5-1 defeat to Al Shabab on Monday night.
Ciel (2), Hamdan Qassim, Essa Obaid and Edgar were the scorers for Al Shabab, giving them their first league win in four games while Al Jazira’s manager Luis Milla continues to stare down the barrel of a gun after his fifth straight league game without a win.
With one win in 11 games as boss, the pressure on the Spaniard will only intensify after a dismal Jazira performance.
After an uninspiring 56 minutes of football, Shabab’s Brazilian forward Ciel ignited the game with a stunning 25 yard effort from the edge of the area.
Dawood Ali should have doubled the lead moment later, missing from a rapid counter attack by Luiz Henrique. The miss was quickly forgotten though when Ciel beat his man to reach the by line before pulling back for Edgar to slide in number two.
In a matter of minutes, the game swung into life and away from Jazira. Almost farcically the shocked Abu Dhabi giants, the width of the post denied Ciel adding a third a minute later.
Ali Mabkhout pulled one back soon after, chipping the ‘keeper after Matias Delgado’s lovely through ball. The goal only brought the illusion that Jazira were back in the game.
Ciel sealed the win, tapping in after some comical defending. A Jazira corner turned into a counter attack for Henrique and Ciel… and no one else.
Henrique was able to run the whole length of the Jazira half without a defender even close to him before passing to Ciel for the goal.
Hamdan joined in the fun with a superb drive effort that left Al Khaseif flat footed before Obaid completed the rout.
The second half was certainly a refreshing change to the first. In terms of chances, the opening 45 minutes didn’t raise the pulse to anything above critical levels.
Luiz Henrique went close with a pair of sizzlers and Jazira threatened sporadically without ever causing Ismael Rabee Juma too much trouble.
There were a few points of interest, however. Al Jazira continually switched between a Barca-esque 4-3-3 and an Ajax-style 3-1-3-3, usually preferring the former when they were under periods of pressure.
Not that either helped as Jazira slumped to their biggest defeat of the season.
TALKING POINTS
Edgar’s fashion sense
Fashion fads in sport catch fire quickly. Coloured boots, gloves, tights, alice bands. Maybe the swimming hat will become the latest thing. If it does, I’m proud to say I witnessed it’s genesis when Edgar pulled one on early in the first half.
Defending
Granted Shabab grabbed the win in 10 frantic minutes so mistakes would always happen but Jazira’s defending was woeful. Shabab sliced them open almost at will. Plenty of work to be done on the training ground for Milla and his coaching time.
Milla time
The Spaniard is surely on borrowed time. Milla was brought in when his predecessor, Paulo Bonamigo, had done a fine job – losing just once in 19 games – and he has failed to keep the ball rolling.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Ciel (Al Shabab)
One of the three Brazilians in the Shabab side alongside Luiz Henrique and Edgar, Ciel was excellent throughout, and was at the heart of Shabab’s attacking thrust.
KEY CONCLUSION
Al Jazira are a team in crisis. Jam-packed with talent they might be, but they are a team devoid of confidence right now which is hardly being helped by their wretched defending. Shabab made the most of their opponenet’s uncertainty at the back and in truth could have scored more.
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