Dubai: Al Nasr coach Cesare Prandelli has promised to get his players to turn over a new leaf as they commence the second part of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) next week.
Now in fourth place, Al Nasr have lost to the top three teams: Al Wasl, Al Ain and Al Wahda. Besides, Al Nasr dropped vital points with a draw against Sharjah and suffered a surprising loss to newcomers Ajman. And on Thursday, Prandelli had to wait until late in the match for an Abdul Aziz Barrada penalty in his team’s 1-0 win against visiting Emirates at the Dubai Club ground in Al Aweer.
“We were trying our best to score goals from the start but unfortunately, there are times when a team struggles to find the back of the net. And when this happens, the team tends to become nervous and predictable,” Prandelli said.
“Secondly, we were playing against a team that is very physical. They were able to close down spaces quickly and that made us suffer even more. But the good thing is we kept our belief and we pushed till the end, and the result was three points for us. I thank all the players for their hard work and commitment till the final whistle,” he added.
Until that goal, the visitors did well to match their more illustrious opponents while soaking in the pressure, defending in numbers and then mounting quick counter-moves. However, Barrada scored only his third goal this season to hand Al Nasr a hard-earned win and move them up into fourth with 17 points behind joint leaders Al Wasl and Al Ain and third-placed Al Wahda.
“The truth is we dropped at least five points [because of the loss with Ajman and draw against Sharjah] during the first half of the season. We deserved to have these five points and we could have been in a better position,” Prandelli said.
“But from now on after playing all eleven teams at least once, our aim for the second half is to go and take as many points as possible while not repeating the same mistakes,” the Italian added.
