Abu Dhabi: Bani Yas boss Luis Garcia has urged his side to build on the momentum of their ‘excellent’ first victory of the Arabian Gulf League season, a battling 2-0 win over high-flying Al Shabab on Friday night.
Substitute Ahmad Ali struck twice in the second half to ease the pressure on Garcia, who only arrived in the summer.
The home side were fortunate that Al Shabab, who were in third place before the match, wasted a host of chances — although Garcia’s men were similarly profligate in the first half.
But the Spaniard did not dwell on that afterwards, saying: “This win was important for the fans and the club and, of course, the mentality of the players. Obviously we want to build on this success and take this momentum forward.
“We played an excellent game, particularly at the start, and could have scored three times. It is hard to play at the same level for more than 15 minutes in this humid weather.”
Meanwhile, Al Shabab coach Caio Junior felt UAE international Ali’s first goal, a tap-in after goalkeeper Salem Abdullah tamely parried Denis Stracqualursi’s header, was offside and had proved decisive.
The Brazilian said: “I saw the replay and it was very clear that it was offside. Before then, it was a balanced game and I think we played a good game. But after that goal, everything changed.”
Al Shabab had responded strongly to Bani Yas’ opening goal, Edgar’s acrobatic header from Manei Mohammad Ali’s cross flying just over the bar and then Carlos Villanueva missed the goal by inches with a snapshot from just inside the box.
They were made to pay on 73 minutes, though, when Ali waltzed through a series of mistimed challenges and slotted home his and Bani Yas’ second of the game, to the delight of Garcia on the touchline.
In the first half, the visitors’ striker Henrique Luvannor thought he had scored after 18 minutes, only for his header to be ruled out after a push by Edgar on one of the home side’s defenders.
