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Al Wahda outclass Al Dhafra with a 3-0 victory

 

After three defeats in a row, Al Wahda came to their winning streak when they overcame Al Dhafra with three straight goals in the Etisalat Pro League round 11 match held tonight at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The winners are currently in 6th position with a record of 18 points while Al Dhafra are in 11th place with 11 points.

Al Dhafra played without their two professional players Fawzi Basheir from Sultanate of Oman and Ivorian footballer Amara Diane and even they were not on the bench.

The two teams started the game with all the hope to come back to their winning ways and compensate for the previous losses. They made some good work and created one scoring chance in the ten opening minutes. But Papa Waigo of Al Wahda put the hosts into the lead in the 11th minute when he netted the opener off a cross ball switched by Srdan Andric from the right flank with a scissors double kick shot that beat the visitors’ goalkeeper Abdul Basit Mohammed. Al Dhafra went all out trying to level the score and they came close to make it, but their player Hassan Zahran squandered a lovely chance sending the ball over the cross bar when he was just one step from the goal in the 23rd minute. Despite of the number of attempts from both sides, but they failed to score. Ridha Abdulhadi from Al Dhafra was unlucky to see his long – range fierce volley deflected by Al Wahda’s keeper Adil Al Hosani before being cleared away by a defender in the last minute of the first session stoppage time.

Only six minutes after the break, Brazilian striker Marcelo squandered a nice opportunity when he hooked the ball over the Al Dhafra’s advancing goalkeeper but defender Mohammed Qasim cleared it away before it crosses the goal line. But Marcelo came one minute later to compensate for his lost chance to make it 2-0 with a strong shot from outside the box. The visitors’ coach Jamal Haji made two simultaneous substitutions when he brought on Hamad Raqea and Mahmoud Awad to replace Abdullah Al Jabri and Ridha Abdulhadi in the 62nd minute. His Croatian counterpart Branko Ivankovi pulled out Mohammed Al Shihhy four minutes later and fielded on Khalid Jalal. Branko also made a compulsory replacement when he gave Abdullah Al Nobi a chance to participate in place of injured defender Hamdan Al Kamali in the 83rd minute. AL Wahda pressed hard in the last minutes to increase their tally with Al Dhafra making every bit of effort to reduce the lead. But Al Wahda were the first to make their dreams come true when their striker Saeed Al Katheri sealed the match for the hosts with a third goal only four minutes to time to secure his side three valuable points  with a 3-0 win.