Farias laments Al Wasl's poor performance

Dubai: Al Wasl coach Sergio Farias lamented his team's loss as their own undoing following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of city rivals Al Ahli late on Wednesday.

"I think we were responsible for this loss. We handed them this win on a platter.

"We planned sticking to a similar plan of short passes and ball retention like we did against Al Wahda. But somehow this simply did not happen," Farias said.

Lax defence

The bulk of their undoing lay in the defence that gave away two penalties — both of which were converted on the rebound by Pinga and Ahmad Khamis respectively.

"The two penalties were fair and it was not the mistake from the referee but mistakes from our defenders. However, my complaint against the referee would be that he allowed Al Ahli players their own sweet time faking injuries," Farias said

‘Lack of control'

"We all know that this was being done to contain the flow of the match. I think the referee should have controlled things in a better manner," Farias added.

But he was hopeful the two-week break would be enough for his side to become sharper tactically and technically.

"The competition has just started and none of the players are 100 per cent at their level. We need to concentrate and win our away games," the 43-year-old Brazilian said.

"A team who deserves to be at the top of the league does not deserve such results."