History beckons Al Jazira after solitary goal win over Al Nasr
abu dhabi — Super-sub Ahmed Al Hashmi’s goal in the 82nd minute saved Arabian Gulf League champions Al Jazira the blushes against Al Nasr on Wednesday night.
With 12 victories at home, the ‘Pride of Abu Dhabi’ are now on the verge of creating history. A win against Al Dhafra in their last round match will see Jazira go unbeaten at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium this season.
Coach Henk ten Cate hoped his boys can pull off one more successful performance.
“I hope we manage to do this. Our ultimate aim is to win 13 home matches in a row. We scored the most goals and conceded least against us.”
He said it is in the hands of the players to write history. “Especially, for the local players who live here and will always be remembered for this achievement. The chance is up for grabs but they have to play as a team and fight,” Ten Cate added.
The Dutchman was, however, furious with his team’s performance on Wednesday night.
“We made it difficult on ourselves. We didn’t play as a team in the first half. We were too individual and I was very upset at half time. But in the second half we dominated the game and were a far better team.
“We missed lots of chances but deserved to win this game. Now that we are champions, there is a certain relaxation which is not good. This isn’t professional. I am not happy with the performance but am happy with three points.”
He added: “Together we are strong.”
Though Al Jazira managed to keep their unbeaten home record intact and stretched their winning streak, it was a lacklustre performance in the first half. It felt the celebrations in the stands got to the champions, who lacked focus and hunger to score.
Al Jazira missed a dozen chances. Star striker Ali Mabkhout had a chance go begging as early as in the second minute. At the other end, Al Nasr could have gone ahead after Al Jazira defender Salem Rashid handled a cross into the box thus handing a penalty to the visitors. An alert Ali Khasif dived to his right and blocked midfielder Abdelaziz Barrada’s thunderous penalty shot.
Leonardo, Mabkhout, Mbark Boussoufa, Park Jong-woo all went for glory shots and missed. Slackness in the first half saw defender Musallem Fayez make an uncharacteristic back pass to keeper Khasif but it went straight to Al Nasr’s Salem Saleh. The forward, however, failed to find a way past Khasif.
Al Jazira fared better after the break with more team game involved but miserably failed to convert. Mabkhout failed to get past Al Nasr keeper Ismail. Leonardo’s shot sailed over the crossbar. Fares Jumaa, in the box, failed to find direction with his header.
With 10 minutes to close, coach Henk ten Cate threw his last card – striker Ahmed Al Hashmi for Yaqoub Al Hosani and it worked. The super-sub powered the cross from Boussoufa to the right corner of the goal. And more than 2,900 fans heaved a sigh of relief.