Emirates Club triumph in Super Cup tie

Skipper Karim Kerkar scored two brilliant goals towards the end of each half after Adnan Al Beloshi had drawn first blood in the 30 ^th minute to upset the more fancied Al Wahda outfit who failed to break the jinx of defending league champions losing the season opening.

The Abu Dhabi side had plenty of scoring opportunities particular in the first quarter of the match but could find the net only once through Brazilian Fernando Baiano in the 81 ^st minute. They also suffered the ignominy of seeing national star Ismail Mattar being sent off in the dying minutes of a match which was attended by a raucous crowd of nearly 5,000.

It was a night to savour for last year’s President’s Cup winners Emirates Club from Ras Al Khaimah who won’t be featuring in the UFL Pro League though, having been relegated to the first division after finishing second from bottom in the 12-team competition.

Their goalkeeper Ahmed Al Shaji was the man of the match bringing off some wonderful saves as Al Wahda lived up to their billing as favourites by dominating the passage of play in the early stages as Mahmoud Al Hammadi and Modibo Diarra worked in tandem to ring circles around the opposition.

Al Wahda had an ominous start with Baiano being shown the yellow card in the opening minutes when he handled the ball going up to head home a cross. Diarra had the best shot at goal in the 12 ^th minute for Al Wahda although his thundering drive went skimming over the bar after a lovely pass with his first touch from Mattar.

However, Emirates Club soaked up the initial pressure including a series of corners with Khalil Al Ali being a steadying influence at the back, before striking at the first opportunity.

Khamis Esmail led the counter attack with a long ball to the left which found Hadj Bougueche who rounded off a defender before passing to Kerkar. Al Wahda goalkeeper Adel Ahosani failed to gather the cross floated into the box by Kerkar for Al Beloshi to pounce on it and jab it in with his left foot from close range. He earned his first yellow card for celebrating his goal by removing his shirt which nearly proved costly for Emirates Club.

Three minutes before the interval Kerkar scored possibly the best goal of the evening when he dribbled past at least three defenders from the left flank and unleashed a thunderbolt from an angle to give Emirates Club a 2-0 lead.

Al Wahda resumed with new found resolve after the restart but were off target with Mattar also being not in his element. They also failed to make the advantage count after Emirates Club were down with 10 men in the 63 ^rd minute after Al Beloshi earned a second yellow for a rash tackle.

This was evened out nine minutes later when it was Al Wahda substitute Mohammed Al Shehi’s turn to leave the field for diving after having received his first card for tripping Nabil Daoudi on the edge of the box minutes earlier.

The misfiring Baiano finally pulled one back for Al Wahda from a goalmouth melee following a Mattar cross into the box.

But any hopes of a fight back were dashed when Kerkar floated a free kick into the top left corner of goal from the edge of the area two minutes before the end of regulation time to seal a memorable victory for Emirates Club who also beat Al Wahda in the semifinals of the President’s Cup last season.

Mattar’s woes continued when referee Mohammed Abdullah Hassan handed him a second yellow card for kicking the ball into goal after the whistle had gone. His earlier offence was for apparently overreacting petulantly after being at the receiving end of a dangerous tackle. He was later seen throwing his runner-up medal into crowd in a show of disgust.