Maradona’s Al Wasl humble Al Ahli 4-0

Dubai: Diego Maradona’s Al Wasl went on a rampage inflicting a heavy 4-0 defeat on Al Ahli to enter the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup here late on Sunday.

The hero of the match was Argentinean Mariano Donda, who was inspirational in attack and defence giving Al Ahli a real harrowing time.

Touted as the ‘Clasico’ given the rivalry between the two teams, it was Maradona’s Al Wasl coming clean by scoring two goals apiece on either side of half-time.

Al Wasl took the lead in the very eighth minute when Juan Oliveira rose above the Al Ahli defence to head in a free kick from Donda.

As the match progressed, Al Wasl showed much better anticipation up front, and it was goalkeeper Obaid Al Tawellah who kept Al Ahli in the match when he saved from point-blank range from Ricardo Porta in the 38th minute.

But that escape was short-lived as Donda’s fierce free kick from well outside the area deflected off defender Abdullah Ahmad with Al Tawellah stranded at the other end in the 44th minute.

Al Wasl stuck to a solid defensive display in the second half, and it was Porta who gave coach Maradona one more opportunity to celebrate when he picked up a deft pass from Oliveira and slammed past Al Tawillah to make it 3-0 in the 64th minute.

Porta completed the rout in the 69th minute when he converted from the penalty spot. Al Ahli tried their best to at least get a goal with coach Quique Flores Sanchez sending in Ahmad Khalil. But the Al Wasl defence refused to yield till the very end.

Elsewhere, Marcelinho scored on either side of half-time to help seven-time champions Sharjah book the last quarter-final spot with a 2-1 win against Al Khaleej.

Earlier during the day, Al Ain had helped themselves to a 4-2 win against Emirates Club and Al Jazira had humbled ten-man Al Shabab by an identical 4-2 margin. On Saturday, Al Wahda, Ittihad Kalba, Bani Yas and Ajman had secured their place in the last eight stages of this competition.

Results:
Al Wasl bt Al Ahli 4-0
Sharjah bt Al Khaleej 2-1
Al Ain bt Emirates Club 4-2
Al Jazira bt Al Shabab 4-2