• Home
• /
• Football

Brilliant Al Jazira get 
off to a flying start

Jazira were without their two foreign imports—Brazilian forward Bare, out with a red card from the previous season, and attacking playmaker Matias Emilio Delgado, who joined the club on Wednesday. But they still carried enough firepower to swamp Al Nasr 3-0 at home in their opening fixture of the Etisalat UAE Pro-League at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on a hot and humid Friday night.

In another match, Sharjah whipped Ittihad Kalba 3-0 at Al Maktoum Stadium at Al Nasr Club. Marcellinho Oliveira earned a double in the 49^th and 94^th minutes as Humaid Ahmed scored in the 59^th minute.

Great start

It was a great start for Al Jazira after strong title contenders—defending champions Al Wahda and big-spending Al Ahli suffered reverses on the opening night on Thursday.

Khalid Sabeel (32^nd), Abdulla Mousa (75^th) and substitute Ahmed Jumaa scored in the third minute of injury time.

Both teams were coming to terms with the high temperatures and humidity.

It was Al Nasr who almost threatened to go ahead in the very third minute of the game when Mohammed Malalla Hassan broke through the off-side trap but Jazira goalkeeper Ali Khaseif charged out in the nick of time and made the clearance.

After that it was more or less Jazira all the way as they weaved together some wonderful moves and should have been won by a bigger margin. Their first chance was in the eighth minute but Tony’s header went wide of the post after a neat Abdulla Mousa cross from the left.

But their best chance in the first half came in the 12^th minute when Ali Ahmed Mabkhout hoodwinked the defence and sliced his way through but his shot from close range, went over the cross bar.

Later, in the 31^st minute, Jazira captain Ibrahim Diaky saw his solo effort go wide of the post. But their persistent pressure paid off in the very next minute with Khalid Sabeel putting them ahead. The Al Nasr defence failed to get to the ball in time to make a clearance and Khalid Sabeel charged in and pounced on the ball and unleashed a screaming left-footer home.

Jazira could have added another just after the break but Tony’s try, after a one-two with Khalid Sabeel, just whizzed past the far post.

Later, in the 56^th minute, Subait Khater’s dangerous freekick was kept out by the goalkeeper Ismail Rabee Juma.

Substitute Ahmed Jumaa attempt from the left in the 69^th minute, went wide of the far post.

Al Nasr, who played second fiddle for most of the game, had an opportunity to draw level two minutes later, but substitute Hussain Ibrahim Hussain’s shot was punched away by goalkeeper Ali Khaseif. Jazira were in the zone by now and got their second in the 75^th minute through Abdulla Mousa. Mousa made his way through the left flank and got past a couple of defenders and fired his left-footer home.

Then, Ahmed Jumaa rounded it off in the third minute of injury time, sliding in perfectly to tap the ball home after a neat pass from substitute Abdulla Qasem from the right.

Teams: Al Jazira: Ali Khaseif, Juma Abdulla, Yaser Matar, Ibrahim Diaky, Tony, Saleh Abdulla Basheer, Abdulla Mousa, Hilal Saeed, Khalid Sabeel, Subait Khater, Ali Ahmed Mabkhout. Substitutes: Khalid Essa Mohammed, Ahmed Jumaa, Abdulla Qasem, Saleh Abdulla, Salem Masoud, Sultan Saleh Bargash, Ahmed Malalla.

Coach: Abel Braga.

Al Nasr: Ismail Rabee Juma, Helal Saeed, Ali Abbas Yasin, Linardo Lima, Humaid Abdulla Abbas, Mohammed Malalla Hassan, Mohammed Ali Omar, Mohammed Ibrahim Hussain, Mahmoud Hassan Darwish, Amir Mubarak Ghanim, Bader Yaqoot Yaqoot. Substitutes: Abdulla Moosa Ali, Abdulla Mubarak Saquer, Khaleefa Mubarak Ghanim, Fahad Sabil Obeid, Marwan Ibrahim Al Safir, Saeed Mubarak Saquer, Hussain Ibrahim Hussain.

Coach: Helio Anjos.

james@khaleejtimes.com