Abu Dhabi: Rodolfo Arruabarrena, the Al Wasl boss, is refusing to give up on his side’s Arabian Gulf League title bid despite a damaging 1-1 home draw with Kalba on Friday night.
This left the Cheetahs in fourth place, 10 points behind leaders Al Jazira with only seven rounds remaining.
In truth, the match should really have been beyond Kalba by half-time. On 15 minutes, top-scorer Fabio de Lima missed a penalty — his second in succession — after Ronaldo Mendes had been tipped in the Kalba penalty area. The Brazilian, already on 20 league goals this season and thus second only to Jazira’s Ali Mabkhout, fired down the middle, yet goalkeeper Ebrahim Eisa blocked with his legs.
Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 56th minute. Caio surged down the left and cut the ball back, leaving Mendes with a simple finish. Yet, while Al Wasl were delighting in the breakthrough, Kalba equalised a minute later. Modibo Maiga chested down a long pass, spun on the edge of the home team’s area and drilled a vicious half-volley beyond goalkeeper Abdullah Ali.
“It was a match where we could win the three points and lose the three points,” Arruabarrena said later.
“We made too many mistakes in defence and, from one of those, they scored and drew the match. It’s true, Al Jazira have a significant gap, but there are seven matches still to play and 21 points available. Never we say this is the end.”
Goran Tufegdzic, the Kalba coach, said: “Today, our team really deserved this point. We kept to our strategy and had three chances one-against-one with their goalkeeper. For us, it’s a good result for the players’ confidence. Until now, for sure we’re not safe, but each point for us is big. To get one at Wasl, I have to be satisfied.”
In Friday’s other AGL match, Dibba held Al Nasr to a goalless draw.
This propelled Al Nasr to sixth place above Al Dhafra, while Dibba remain 12th.
