Arabian Gulf League: First-half blitz sees Al Wasl past Al Wahda

Dubai: Al Wasl jumped two spots into fifth place in the Arabian Gulf League with a 3-0 drubbing of Al Wahda on Thursday, while bottom side Kalba stunned Ajman in their own backyard with a 1-0 win.

With Al Wahda undone by the absence of all three of their foreign players due to suspensions, it was always going to be an uphill task for the visitors against an organised Al Wasl, who made them pay dearly by scoring three goals within the first 40 minutes.

Al Wasl made their intent clear in the sixth minute as Fabio Lima set up Hazza Salem Al Faresi to gratefully place the ball into an empty net. The home side could have doubled their lead in the 27th minute, but Al Wahda goalkeeper Adel Al Hossani denied Caio.

But the second goal did come in the 33rd minute following a blistering counter-attack. Lima collected a hasty clearance outside the area and nicked the ball to Hugo Viana, who in turn played in Ederson and he laid it off for Lima to thump the ball into the roof of the net.

Three minutes later, the hard-working Ali Salmeen came close to scoring when his rasping drive nearly caught Al Hossani off guard, but the Al Wahda keeper did well to tip the ball away for a corner.

Caio put the issue out of reach of the visiting team in the 40th minute as he outmanoeuvred an out-of-place defence, cut past Al Hossani and slid the ball into an empty goal.

Comfortable with the lead, Al Wasl came into the second half with the intent of preserving their lead. And though Al Wahda tried their best, they had little luck.

“We were fantastic in the first half and I think we finished it off in the first half itself,” Al Wasl coach Gabriel Calderon told the media.

“I think we went down a notch physically in the second half. There was not too much movement from the strikers. A coach is always happy when players create chances. In the last four matches, we have managed to score maybe 15 goals and that is a very good statistic.”

His Al Wahda opposite number Sami Al Jaber said: “Al Wasl deserved to win. They scored from our many mistakes, but this is football.

“We have too many young players in the team and they need to learn from these mistakes and grow. We are working hard to be where we need to be and we will never give up.”

In the second early match played in Ajman, Danilo Bueno scored the only goal seven minutes from full-time to give Kalba the vital three points that takes their tally up to seven for the season. Ajman continue one spot above them with 12 points.