Al Wasl wreaks revenge for defeat by Al Wahda

Al Wasl whipped defending champions Al Wahda 5-1 in the President's Cup preliminary round group (B) at the Al Wasl stadium yesterday. Al Wasl clinched a berth in the prequarterfinals with 10 points from four matches and are on their way to top group C, with two easy matches left.
The big win was a sweet revenge for Al Wasl, which was defeated last year by Al Wahda in the Cup final. Al Wahda was affected by the absence of seven key players, five with the national team, and the two foreign players - striker Mohammed Ennazy, and midfielder Conti. The first session ended barren with both teams failing to break through the firm defence.

Scoring chances for both teams were rare, and didn't threaten the goalkeepers. Adel Mattar of Al Wahda lost a good chance in the 33rd minute when he was put through, but was a little late in finishing. On the other hand, Al Wasl Iranian striker Farhad Majiedi's shot went over the bar from close range in the 38th minute. Hussain Ali, the Al Wahda custodian, saved a powerful shot by Bakhit Obaid at the stroke of half time.

The second session was totally different with both teams going all out for attack. Six goals were scored in that period. Al Wahda began to attack with Adel Mattar, who lost a good chance to score in the 53rd minute when he faced the Al Wasl goal, but shot wide. From the 54th minute, Al Wasl dominated the match with Tareq Darwish went past Omer Ali before he shot a quick low ball to the left of Hussain Ali scoring Al Wasl first. Two minutes later, Farhad Majiedi scored the second off a long pass from Khalid Darwish.

Al Wahda coach made a change in his backline after Wasl's second goal. Al Hay Juma came in place of Omer Ali to make his defence stronger infront of Al Wasl swift attacks. SHowever, that didn't alter Wasl's fine show in the second session. Al Wahda defence and goalkeeper keeper continued to be in disarray. Hussain Ali failed to clear a back pass by his defender, but Al Wasl Bakhit Obaid couldn't capitalise and the ball went out.

In the 64th minute Farhad scored the third for Al Wasl. Tareq Darwish crossed a floating corner and Ismail Rashid headed it to Farhad, who shot a high ball to the right of Hussain Ali. Al Wahda attacked with vigour, but Al Wasl defence, led by Ismail Rashid and Ali Issa, marked them closely until the end. Al Wahda's lone goal came from a direct free kick outside the box in the 66th minute. Bashir Saeed's shot went to the right of Mohamed Hussain the Al Wasl keeper.

Khalid Darwish scored the fourth in the 75th minute with a spectacular shot following Farhad cross from the left. Tareq Darwish completed the rout by scoring Al Wasl's fifth in the 81st minute. Tareq went past Al Wahda defender Abdullah Salim, and shot to the right of helpless Hussain Ali.

In the other matches played yesterday,
In group (A), Ras Al Khaimah beat Al Khaleej 1-0, and
Emarat Club beat Al Arabi 5-1
In group (C), Al Jazira Al Hamrra drew 1-1 with Al Ahli.
In group (D), Ahli Fujairah drew goalless with Hatta.