Dubai: Al Nasr won the three points but will be left ruing the loss of their talismanic striker Santos Wanderley following their encounter with Kalba in 22nd round action of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL), late on Friday.
Wanderley played only the first half, but set up the opening goal for Al Nasr when his swerving through ball found Ahmad Khamis connecting into the roof of the net in the 22nd minute. Active and hard-working in defence and attack, Wanderley pulled a muscle while attempting a long-range shot on the Kalba goal, thus putting him out of action at least for a few weeks.
However, this is something that the Blue Wave cannot afford as they next prepare for their President’s Cup semi-final against Hatta on April 20. Naturally, Al Nasr coach Dan Petrescu is worried as he seemed convinced Wanderely would be unavailable for the next few matches. “We can only hope for a miracle. I am not a doctor, and we will have a clear picture of his injury on Sunday. But I have been a player myself and I know that such an injury does not look like good news for us,” Petrescu told media.
Salem [Saleh] is back and that too with an incredible goal. We got a win and three points against a well-organised team like Kalba, and these are the positives for us,” Petrescu added.
That aside, the former Romanian national team winger, further rued the fact that his defence had conceded a goal for the first time after five matches. “I would be lying if I say I was totally happy with the way we played tonight,” Petrescu said.
The coach further lamented that the injury to Wanderley may have been due to the Brazilian’s own undoing. “He’s a true professional in every way and most often we try to restrain him from over-training. But on the other hand, he has not had too much of actual playing time. So I feel his injury is due to a combination of both these factors,” the 49-year-old coach added.
Khamis’s strike helped open the score for the home team midway through the first half, while substitute Salem Saleh added a second in the 80th minute only to see Kalba pull one back in the final minute through a Modibo Maiga header.
The win did nothing to alter league positions with Al Nasr continuing in sixth place with 32 points, while Kalba remained close to the relegation zone in eleventh with 17 points. The last two spots in the 14-team standings are being occupied by Emirates Club and Bani Yas with 13 and 12 points respectively.
“This was a different match and what harmed us most was that we didn’t play for four weeks. Kalba needed to win and we always knew they would be a threat. We knew that they would be in good shape and they were ready for this challenge against us,” Petrescu said.
“I don’t think we have played exceptionally well, but the good thing is that we have won the game. I am happy that we have won three points. It was not easy for them to play the second half especially after knowing the Wanderley was injured,” he added.
SCORES
Al Nasr v Kalba 2-1
Bani Yas v Sharjah 2-2
Al Shabab v Hatta 1-1
Al Ahli v Al Wasl 0-0
Al Ain v Al Dhafra 5-2
Dibba v Al Jazira 0-3
Emirates v Al Wahda 1-2
