Leonardo nets brace in Al Wadha win

Abu Dhabi: Riding on a brace of goals from Brazilian Leonardo de Souza, Al Wahda registered an authoritative 3-0 win over Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf Cup Group ‘A’ fixture at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Sunday. All three goals came in the first half.

Al Wahda took the lead as early as in the fifth minute. Leonardo beat an onrushing Al Wasl goalkeeper Yousuf Abdullah Al Zaabi after being set with a measured through from Sebastian Tagliabue.

In the 13th minute, the lead could have doubled, had an unmarked Tagliabue managed to get the finishing touches at the goal mouth.

Fabio Lima had a clear cut chance to put his side on level terms in the 22nd minute but his placement lacked direction.

In the 26th minute, striker Tareq Ahmad’s pin point pass from the left found Tagliabue unmarked inside the box but the latter’s header found goalkeeper Al Zaabi in its way.

Al Wasl’s defence-line comprising Abdullah Saleh, Abdullah Jassim Ali, Abdullah Khamis Juma and Ahmad Essa were clearly struggling to match the guile of the Al Wahda forward-line. 

In the 38th minute, a free-kick from Leonardo sneaked through the Al Wasl defence wall and found Tagliabue who made a swift turn to set it up for Yahya Al Ghassani, who slot home with a neat grounder.

Immediately after that, Al Wasl’s reputed forward Caio made a long ranger attempt but an alert Al Wahda goalkeeper Rashid Ali Al Suwaidi rose in time to punch it over the crossbar. 

Leonardo then again toyed with the Al Wasl defence to score his second for the evening to make it 3-0 for Al Wahda. He found the back of the net with a left-footed effort dribbling past defender Jassim Ali and beating the onrushing goalkeeper Al Zaabi.

After the change of ends, Al Wasl showed far more purpose but their key players Fabio De Lima and Caio were well kept in check by the resilient Al Wahda defence spearheaded by South Korean Chang Woo Rim.

Substitute Ronaldo Mendes, who came in place of Khalid Hassan Al Shaibani, still managed a closing scoring opportunity in the 61st minute with a fine run, only to see his attempt being blocked by Al Suwaidi.

With Al Wasl pressing, there were plenty of scoring opportunities for Al Wahda on the counters but the young Al Ghassani kept running out of ideas once inside the box. Al Wahda then played out the remaining minutes without being tested to seal a morale boosting win.