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Al Wahda and Al Wasl share the points in end-to-end 1-1 encounter

Al Wahda and Al Wasl shared the spoils in a pulsating 1-1 draw, with plenty of action at both ends of the pitch in the rescheduled Round 14 Etisalat Pro League game at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Fahad Hadeed’s opener for Al Wasl was cancelled out by Marcelinho’s strike as each side took a point from the encounter, giving Al Wahda a total of 32 in 6th place and Al Wasl 24 points in 9th position as both teams lacked the accuracy in attack to secure a victory.

Al Wahda had the best chances of the opening ten minutes, with Marcelinho’s 8th-minute strike from distance whistling just wide of the post, and Saeed Al Katheeri had a great chance two minutes later as he beat the offside trap down the left but aimed his shot straight at Ahmed Mahmoud in the Al Wasl goal. In fact it was the visitors who got their noses in front moments after Al Wahda’s missed chances, with Emiliano Alfaro and Fahad Hadeed combining to put Al Wasl 1-0 up in the 12th minute. The Uruguayan striker Alfaro demonstrated great individual skill and persistence, twisting and turning several times to deceive the Al Wahda defense before lofting a cross in from the left. Fahad Hadeed rose at the far post to nod home his first League goal of the season, repaying Alfaro for his excellent assist. In the 22nd minute Al Wahda very nearly got back on level terms when Saeed Al Katheeri’s cross-come-shot hit the post, with the onrushing Marcelinho just unable to make a connection to turn the ball goalwards. Al Wahda’s attacks outnumbered Al Wasl’s, though the visiting team always looked dangerous on the break and in the 39th minute Jussie Ferreira missed a great chance when he guided his shot straight into the goalkeeper’s arms after breaking forward at pace with Alfaro running in support. A minute later the ball was back at the other end of the pitch as Al Wahda finally made their offensive dominance count by scoring an equaliser. A cross from Mahmoud Khamis on the left was tapped in by Marcelinho to make it 1-1 with his fourth League goal of the season. Four minutes later the home side could have taken the lead when captain Ismaeil Matar managed a creat pull-back into the box from the byline, but Saeed Al Katheeri’s shot was parried by the goalkeeper before the ball ricocheted off the back of an Al Wasl defender and then into the safety of Ahmed Mahmoud’s arms. Right before the stroke of half time Jussie Ferreira got another shot wrong as he sent the ball just wide of the upright and the team went in on level terms at the break.

There was more end-to-end action as the second half got underway, with Al Wasl’s Achille Emana shooting into the side-netting when he looked certain to score just five minutes after the restart. In the 53rd minute a cross from Al Wahda captain Ismaeil Matar was met by Marcelinho but his looping header ended up on the roof of the net. Al Wahda head coach Branko Ivankovic made his first change of the game in the 54th minute, replacing midfielder Khaled Jalal with striker Mohammed Al Shehhi in a positive move, and the substitute almost made an immediate impact when combining with Ismaeil Matar to set up Saeed Al Katheeri, but the UAE national team striker did not have his shooting boots on as he somehow elected to cross instead of take a pop at goal. Up at the other end, Jussie Ferreira almost forced an own goal from Al Wahda’s defense as they struggled to cope with his threat. Both managers made changes, with both teams’ goalscorers being withdrawn as Fahad Hadeed was replaced by Ali Salmeen for Al Wasl and Papa Waigo came on in place of Marcelinho for Al Wahda. In the 64th minute Al Wahda squandered a gilt-edged chance to take the lead when Ismaeil Matar handed a cross on a plate to Saeed Al Katheeri, but it really was not the forward’s day as he inexplicably put his shot wide from just yards out before being substituted ten minutes later with Salem Saleh coming on in his place.

The 68th minute saw Dino Djulbic make a fearless tackle to deny Al Wasl’s substitute Ali Salmeen a certain shot on goal, and four minutes later it was the Australian defender again who kept Al Wahda in the game as he bravely blocked Alfaro’s shot. In the 74th minute Al Wahda’s Croatian midfielder Srdan Andric rattled the frame of goal with a rasping shot from distance, and less than a minute later the visitors stormed up the other end of the pitch but Achille Emana dragged his shot wide. The extraordinary misfiring from each side continued as late efforts from Al Wahda’s Ismaeil Matar, substitute Papa Waigo and Al Wasl’s Jussie Ferreira were not enough to find a winner for either side, and the game ended 1-1 after a raft of missed chances.