Cannavaro inspires Al Ahli to victory on home debut

Former Italy World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro inspired Al Ahli to an impressive 4-1 victory against Al Wasl on its home debut in the Etisalat Pro-League at Rashid Stadium in Dubai on Wednesday night.
 
The 36-year-old defender rallied his troops after their 2-0 loss at Al Dhafra in the season-opener last week with a performance that brought back the smiles to the ambitious Dubai club who are aiming to finish among the top four in the league this season.
 
Al Ahli virtually sewed up the match by banging in three first-half goals, one of which was set up by Cannavaro with a brilliant back-heel flip, to belittle the defence of Al Wasl who came into the match on a high after upsetting defending champions Al Wahda at home last week.
 
The Red Knights scored one of the fastest goals in the history of the competition when Ahmed Khamis rifled in from close range with the game just over a minute old after Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance swivelled around and put the ball in his path.
 
Cannavaro got into the act in the 23rd minute when he flipped back a pass inside the box for UAE international Ahmed Khalil to drive it home. Brazilian midfielder Pinga made it 3-0 before half time scoring off a rebound after his kick from the spot was blocked by Majed Naser.
 
However, the former World Player of the Year will miss their next match against newcomers Kalba when the league resumes in a fortnight after the Eid break, after being booked minutes earlier for his second yellow card in as many matches.
 
Al Wasl pulled one back in the second half through substitute Khaled Darwish on the hour but the hosts added to their tally as Ahmed Khamis completed a double by pouncing a missed penalty effort from Abdulla Abdulrahman in the 90th minute.
 
Al Ahli’s manager David O’Leary was relieved with his first victory since taking over the club just over six weeks ago. “What we did was we took our chances. We should have scored some more goals. We missed two penalties but we played better than last week. This side tonight deserves full credit for the way they carried on,” said the former Leeds and Aston Villa boss who has been tasked with turning Al Ahli into a Premier League club during his three-year tenure.
 
“Their (Wasl) goalkeeper is really good. He made good saves. I thought it was a really good game played in a really good atmosphere,” added O’Leary who vowed not to change tactics to suit players in future.
 
“Tactics were changed last week. I went against my beliefs last week. I’ll never do it again,” he said when asked whether the change in fortunes was tactical or psychological.
 
“I’m really glad we won tonight. It was a great achievement,” Cannavaro said through a translator. “But I can’t do it alone. It really took the entire team.”
 
The visitors dominated proceedings in midfield displaying greater ball control but created few scoring opportunities being tactically outplayed with Al Ahli backline coming forward at every given turn.
 
Cannavaro won several duels with Al Wasl’s Brazilian playmaker Alexandre Oliveira whose many attempts to break through were stopped short by the Italian.
Hassan Ali and Ahmed Khamis showed pace and guile on the wings for Al Ahli along with Bader Abdulrahman while Bance combined well with young Khalil forming a potent combination.
 
Referee Ammar Ali Al Junaibi gave a flurry of cards particularly in the last quarter resulting in Al Wasl’s Darwish Ahmed seeing red for a second booking during stoppage time.
 
Al Wasl’s Brazilian coach Sergio Farias was not upset by the decisions to give penalties but felt referees should crack down on players falling down to stop the flow of the game. “They should be told to stay out of the game or shown yellow cards,” he said.
 
He lamented the fact that his players displayed a lack of fighting spirit despite having abundant ball possession. “Al Ahli put lot of players in midfield but we did not counter attack. We just controlled game by passing in midfield,” said Farias who changed the formation by having three strikers and one midfielder in the second half but failed to break the Al Ahli tide.
 
Al Wahda got their first points with an impressive 3-1 win against Kalba at Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi with goals from Fernando Baiano, Modibo Diarra and Hamdan Al Kamali.
 
Simon Feindouno equalised for Kalba after Baiano got the opener in the 31st minute by floating in a free kick. Diarra put them in front again before the interval before Al Kamali sealed three points on the hour heading home a corner.
 

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