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Al Wasl let away lead slip as Al Dhafra come back to win 2-1

Eid Baroot suffered his first defeat since assuming his interim head coach role at Al Wasl, as his side lost 2-1 at Al Dhafra’s Hamdan bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday night. Baroot’s steeds were unable to build on their positive result from the last round and their away-day loss sees them remain on 20 points in the Etisalat Pro League. Meanwhile, Al Dhafra increased their points total to 18 with the win.

Al Dhafra started the encounter more brightly than their visitors, registering several shots on target from Makhete Diop, but nothing was too much trouble for Ahmed Mahmoud in the Al Wasl goal. Eid Baroot made an early change in the 15th minute, with Hassan Ali replacing Fahad Hadeed, and it was unclear whether it was a tactical substitution or forced due to an injury. The home side continued to attack and in the 21st minute Al Dhafra’s Bandar Mohammed hit a tricky lob-come-cross, which Darwish Ahmed managed to hack away for a corner to save Al Wasl, but despite Al Dhafra’s dominance in attacking chances, Al Wasl always looked threatening on the break.

In the 34th minute the deadlock was broken in a fine show of persistence by Al Wasl’s Emiliano Alfaro. The Uruguayan striker - who had looked to have jarred his knee in the opening stages of the match - rounded Al Dhafra defender Hazza Salem before squeezing his shot beneath the body of the goalkeeper and seeing it creep over the line from an improbable angle, giving Al Wasl a 1-0 lead away from home. Less than ten minutes later, however, the home side replied through Abdulsalam Jumaa to level the scores at 1-1. The midfielder unleashed a rasping right-footed shot into the roof of the net, scoring in the 44th minute and giving his team hope just before the half time break. Al Wasl immediately tried to hit back from kick-off after the goal, as Al Dhafra Khalid Al Sinani and defender Hazza Salem combined and collided to stop Achille Emana from putting Al Wasl back into the lead. And right before the stroke of half time, Al Dhafra could have gone ahead as Rodrigo found himself with a free header in the box, but the Brazilian sent his effort wide of the left-hand post and the sides went in level at the interval.

The second half was a lively affair, with Al Dhafra again having the lion’s share of shots. The home team should have gone ahead on several occasions but Makhete Diop was wasteful with his chances, particularly in the 49th minute when the Senegalese striker found himself unmarked in the area, but sent his shot agonizingly wide of the right-hand post. Ten minutes later a curling strike from Saif Mohamed went close, but Al Dhafra could not find a way through, and the game became more end-to-end as Al Wasl mustered up their strength to search for a winner. In the 59th minute Emana and Alfaro almost combined to take the lead, but Khalid Al Sinani smothered the danger in the Al Dhafra goal. Diop continued to squander opportunities for his side, sending a free header over the crossbar in the 66th minute as it looked to be a frustrating evening in front of goal. But in the 78th minute, all was forgiven as Diop finally found his shooting boots to put Al Dhafra 2-1 up. A long ball from right-back was knocked down by Diop for Rodrigo and the pair exchanged passes before the Senegalese striker slid the ball left-footed into the net. Al Wasl tried to rally but their frontmen could not find an equaliser, and Al Dhafra held onto their lead to secure the three points having initially gone behind in the encounter.