Reprieve for Cerezo after narrow escape

Dubai: Al Shabab coach Toninho Cerezo heaved a sigh of relief after his team escaped with a 4-3 victory against nine-man Al Wasl in the second week of the UAE Football League (UFL) late on Sunday.

"That we allowed Al Wasl to score two goals when they were down to nine men shows the immaturity in our team, and we need to take adequate steps to rectify this situation as we may not be lucky again," Cerezo told Gulf News.

Al Shabab, league champions two seasons ago, put up a brilliant display of attacking soccer in the first half to dominate their neighbours while leading 3-1 going into half-time. But the second half was the exact opposite as they faltered losing ball possession constantly against an opponent playing with just men on the field.

"Conceding two goals in such a situation is totally unacceptable. That exposed the lack of maturity within our team and this should be a big lesson for us for the future," the Brazilian added.

The Al Shabab coach was critical of his star player Carlos Villanueva holding on too long with the ball.

"He is trying too hard to prove himself or maybe that is his style of playing. But here in this team he has to learn and adapt to our style and play for the team rather than for himself," Cerezo said.

As though by a quirk of fate, Villanueva was given his marching orders by referee Mohammad Omar for elbowing into Al Wasl skipper Eisa Ali late into the second half. This proved to be a respite of sorts for the visitors as they went all out on attack mode for a win, if not at least a draw. And with Brazilian Blas Perez scoring his second goal of the night early into the injury period, they ran out of time to hand a 4-3 win to the home side.

"I liked the way in which my players responded to the situation after being down to nine men. I commend their team spirit and the way in which they fought till the very end," Al Wasl coach Alexandre Guimaraes said.

"We made mistakes in the first half by giving Al Shabab too much space and we paid for these mistakes with goals. In the future we simply cannot allow such goals," he said.

"The positive from all this is that what we undid in the first half we recomposed in the second," he added.

The UFL will now take a short break (until October 17) during which time all 12 teams will be involved in their first round matches of the etisalat Emirates Cup on October 8 to 9.