Al Nasr show no mercy in lopsided victory over Al Wasl

Al Nasr 6 Al Wasl 1

Al Nasr: Lima pen 5', Luis 20', Holman 25', Mohamed 30', Al Fardan 56', 67'

Al Wasl: Donda 87'

Red card: Yasser Salem (Al Wasl)

Man of the match: Eder Luis (Al Nasr)

DUBAI // On the eve of the Bur Dubai derby, the two managers, both with impressive resumes, had warned that a single lapse, could decide the outcome of the game. They were right.

It was the fourth minute of the game and Hassan Mohammed, playing a deft one-two with Eder Luis on his right, darted into the box and had only the Al Wasl goalkeeper in front of him. A clumsy Yasser Salem decided to wrap his arms around the Nasr striker and dragged him down.

That one incident transformed a game, which had promised much in the opening exchanges, into a 6-1 rout.

Salem was sent off for his indiscretion and Nasr earned a penalty, which Leonardo Lima converted before the hosts went on a rampage, showing no mercy as they made their numerical advantage count.

As the two teams went into the break, Nasr were leading 4-0 with Eder Luis, Brett Holman and Mohammed adding to the tally. Habib Fardan scored twice in the second half to make it a tennis score-line, with Mariano Donda scoring the consolation for Wasl, three minutes from time.

Both managers – Wasl’s Hector Cuper and Nasr’s Ivan Jovanovic – were surprised by the result, one pleasantly and the other not so.

“You never expect such a result in a derby game,” said a delighted, but restrained, Jovanovic. “We are very satisfied that we played a very serious game right through and won this derby game by such a big score. We were better in the field and scored really nice goals.”

For Cuper, who has managed the likes of Valencia and Inter in the past, this was the biggest defeat of his coaching career.

“The worst defeat before this was the one during my time in Argentina and the result then was 5-0,” he said.

The Argentine, however, refused to be disheartened and expressed confidence in the abilities of his players. He did fall on his sword, however.

“I would like to apologise to all the fans who came to support us,” Cuper said. “We know the importance of this game, but we made too many mistakes. Some of them were really childish.

“The red card also made it very difficult for us. Once the first half finished at 4-0, it was very difficult for us to come back. What I will ask the players now is to forget about this game and focus on the future.

“From what I saw in the past two matches, I definitely believe the team is very competitive. They showed great spirit in those two matches and a lot of fight.

“We will just need to work harder to forget what happened tonight. Definitely there will be some emotional baggage from this game, but my job is to help the players get over this.”

Jovanovic’s surprise at the result was understandable. Missing Tariq Ahmed and Ahmed Khamis through suspension, he lost Ibrahima Toure as well due to illness. That meant a start for Hassan Mohammed, and the coach was clearly pleased with his efforts.

“One of the problems we have in the UAE is that all clubs have foreign players playing in attacking position and locals don’t get much of a chance,” the Serbian said. “It is the same with Hassan. He has not played many games, but he works very well in training.

“Unfortunately, he could not play for the whole game, but in the time he spent on the pitch, he played very well and I am very happy for him.

“The last five or six games, we have played at a really good level as a team. We have improved a lot and it is good we can keep our performance at a good level every time we play.”

arizvi@thenational.ae

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