Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda thumped fellow crisis club Al Nasr 5-1, while Dibba came from 2-0 down at home to hold mighty Al Ain to a 2-2 draw in the early Arabian Gulf League matches on Friday.
Wahda’s walloping of the Blue Wave, thanks to Sebastian Tagliabue’s hat-trick, will come as a welcome relief to under-fire boss, Javier Aguirre, whose side had won only one of their previous four AGL matches.
Nasr had also won only one and lost three and the future of boss Ivan Jovanovic now looks in serious jeopardy following their capital humbling, with the former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu reportedly primed to replace him.
Meanwhile, Al Ain supremo Zlatko Dalic will also have endured a miserable Friday night after seeing his side inexplicably surrender a two-goal lead after 70 minutes to draw at lowly Dibba.
To intensify Dalic’s misery, his pivotal playmaker Omar Abdul Rahman was sent off in the dying minutes.
But the plucky home side had been forced to play with one man less for the final 22 minutes after Omar Ahmad’s expulsion.
Two minutes later, however, Ali Khameis grabbed a goal back for Paulo Sergio Bento de Brito’s battlers and then Mohannad Salem scored an own goal (76) to earn Dibba a miraculous point.
Esmail Ahmad (18) and Douglas (56) had earlier put the Boss on course for their fourth win from four games.
It was an altogether more one-sided affair at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, as last season’s top-scorer in the AGL, Tagliabue, fired in a fine treble (49, 65, 82), with
Balazs Dzsudzsak (86) and Mohammad Al Akberi (87) adding gloss to the scoreline.
New signing Mohannad Abdul Raheem’s first goal for Nasr in reply (56) was the only bright spot on a thoroughly miserable evening for Jovanovic.
ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE
Friday’s games
Dibba 2 Al Ain 2
Al Wahda 5 Al Nasr 1
Playing later
Hatta vs Emirates
Al Shabab vs Al Ahli
