Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda, thanks to a penalty conversion by their Argentine striker Sebastian Tagliabue, defeated a 10-man Hatta 1-0 in round 16 of the Arabian Gulf League at the Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium on Wednesday.
Al Wahda, who had registered an important win last week against Al Wasl to move into second place, have momentarily moved to the top of the standings with 36 points – a point clear of Al Ain, who play against Emirates on Thursday.
The breakthrough for Wahda came in the 72nd minute. Hatta defender Ali Darwish brought down Al Wahda’s Mourad Batna by pulling his jersey and referee Jasem Abdullah pointed it out to the spot. Tagliabue was not going to pass up the opportunity from the spot. He found the right corner of the net with a neat placement.
There was further trouble for Hatta after they were reduced to 10-men after Brazilian Fernando Gabriel was given his marching orders by the referee for arguing after a clear-cut yellow card.
Although Wahda won the contest, they will be a touch disappointed with their effort in the first half as their forwards missed several scoring opportunities.
Tagliabue, who had at least three clear scoring opportunities, missed an open goal early on by shooting wide from close range. Then Mohammad Al Akberi’s left-footed effort was kept out by Hatta keeper Abdullah Al Qamish.
Just before the break, a curling free-kick from Hungarian midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak from the edge of the area, much to the dismay of the Al Wahda fans, found the crossbar.
