Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Abu Dhabi: After the humiliating elimination from ACL 2012, Al Nasr amended the continental woes by a master class performance against fellow ACL Group A leaders Al Jazira with a thumping 5-1 win on Sunday in the UAE Pro League.
The away win helped Al Nasr leapfrog Al Jazira and Al Shabab to second position, 12 point behind champions Al Ain. Al Nasr’s slimmer hope of qualifying in the knockout stages were dashed out by Iran giant Sepahan last week as they have just managed 3 points from five previous matches in ACL so far this season.
Habib Fardan scored the opening goal for the visitors in the 13th minute but Ali Mabkhout brought the match at level in the 36th minute.
The Walter Zenga’s side was in no mood to allow Al Jazira to prevail as Australian international Mark Bresciano made it 2-1 as the goal was the former Palermo ace’s ninth goal in the campaign.
The crucial goal which took the match away from Al Jazira came two minutes of the first half stoppage time through Younis Ahmed as Al Jazira left more space in the second half in search of the goals allowing the visitors to score two more goals in counter.
The striking pair of Amara Diane of Ivory Coast and Brazilian Leo Lima (Leonardo Da Silva) completed the demolition act scoring goals in the 60th and 87th minute respectively. Al Jazira will take on Qatar’s Al Rayyan on next Tuesday in an academic contest for the Abu Dhabi giants but a crucial one for Al Rayyan.