Wasteful Al Wahda get a blast from coach Laurentiu Reghecampf

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  • (Twitter/@AlWahdaFCC).

    A frustrated Laurentiu Reghecampf bemoaned a lack of lethality from Arabian Gulf League title pretenders Al Wahda after their perfect start to the season ended in ignominious defeat at promoted Bani Yas.

    Last term’s runners-up were surprisingly downed 4-2 at their Abu Dhabi neighbours on Thursday to relinquish the division’s lead. In an eventful game for Moroccan winger Mourad Batna, he got the visitors’ first two goals but then missed a pivotal 64th-minute penalty-kick when the score was just 3-2.

    “This is our first loss of the season,” said coach Reghecampf. “We could not keep up the progress and our progress could have been enhanced.

    “We did not take advantage of the opportunities available before us.

    “We will analyse the goals we received. In the second half, we got used to the rhythm of the game and were able to score the second goal and reduce the deficit.

    “Then, we missed many opportunities to score.”

    Wahda had won their opening three top-flight fixtures to a combined score of 14-4. But with Argentine hot shot Sebastian Tagliabue going goalless for the first time in 2018/19 and UAE centre-back Hamdan Al Kamali unfit to start, they fell apart.

    Ex-Romania midfielder Reghecampf urged his side to heed the lessons learned in defeat.

    He said: “We will analyse the errors we have made during this game. We must continue to learn from our mistakes.

    “Our impression must be different, and it must be our best in the next game.

    “We knew that Bani Yas would rely on counter-attacks. We trained for this, but we made big mistakes and gave them space that they managed to score from.

    “We had to be careful when we lost the ball. We will analyse these mistakes, I will talk to the players and make sure they learn from these mistakes.”

    A long trip to lowly Emirates Club is next up for Wahda. The Falcons have won just one of five fixtures in all competitions this season.

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