Abu Dhabi: Abdul Wahab Abdul Qadir was delighted he got his tactics spot on as Bani Yas registered just their second victory of the season in the Arabian Gulf League with a last-gasp winner.
The return of their former manager saw Bani Yas, at the bottom and who are battling relegation, defeat Hatta 1-0 on Saturday night.
The match winner came in injury time from the foot of Frenchman Harry Novillo, who slotted in from the edge of the area.
Abdul Qadir immediately attributed the success to gaps his side managed to create in the Hatta defence — but added his team needs to find the finishing touch.
“We dominated the first half by controlling the ball in midfield. We were in control of the proceedings for most parts of the second half as well. This helped us play comfortably and we did not provide our opponents with chances,” said Abdul Qadir, adding that Hatta relied a lot on long balls but how pleased he was his defence was equally up for the challenge.
“Our defence led by Yousef Jaber was solid and managed to keep a clean sheet till the end. Hatta also played good football and we had to fight it out for a win,” said the Iraqi, who in his first spell with the club in 1988 led them to promotion from Division One and a President’s Cup title four years later. Bani Yas will now lock horns with league leaders Al Jazira in their own backyard next time out in the league.
In another match Emirates, another club staring at relegation, got a massive boost as a hat-trick by Mourad Batna saw them crush Al Shabab 4-0. Argentine forward Sebastian Sacha had put Emirates in the lead with a strike as early as in the second minute. This was a hugely disappointing result for Shabab, who were looking towards their new Serbian manager Miroslav Djukic to get their campaign back on track. With this win Emirates are tied with Dibba on 12 points but are second from bottom because of goal difference.
RK TEAM P W D L GS GA GD PTS
1 Al Jazira 17 14 2 1 45 12 33 44
2 Al Ain 17 11 4 2 35 21 14 37
3 Al Wasl 17 11 3 3 38 16 22 36
4 Al Ahli 17 10 5 2 32 11 21 35
5 Al Wahda 17 6 7 4 31 22 9 25
6 Al Shabab 17 6 6 5 17 25 -8 24
7 Al Dhafra 17 6 5 6 24 29 -5 23
8 Al Nasr 17 7 1 9 30 26 4 22
9 Sharjah 17 4 5 8 17 27 -10 17
10 Hatta 17 4 5 8 15 29 -14 17
11 Kalba 17 4 4 9 18 26 -8 16
12 Dibba 17 2 6 9 16 36 -20 12
13 Emirates 17 3 3 11 22 30 -8 12
14 Bani Yas 17 2 2 13 16 46 -30 8
