Friday, Dec 21, 2007
Gulf News
Dubai: Former Dutch skipper Philip Cocu scored a brace to help Al Jazira to a convincing 2-0 win against Al Nasr in the etisalat UAE National Football League yesterday.
The win enabled Al Jazira maintain their clean record and take their tally up to 14 points to occupy second place behind current league leaders Al Shabab after six rounds.
On the other hand, the defeat further confounded Al Nasr's miseries following the sacking of the Brazilian coach Vagner Mancini recently.
Though the Brazilian has been temporarily replaced by Algerian Abdul Latif, they are yet to see a surge in their fortunes as they remain tied in eighth place with a mere five points to show after six matches.
As expected, the home side started on a promising note with Brazilian playmaker Renato D'Abreu curling in a rasping drive in the very second minute of play, only to see goalkeeper Ali Khusaif bring off a fine save for Al Jazira.
Best chance
Al Nasr had a narrow escape in the ninth minute when former Dutch skipper Philip Cocu headed over following a nice relay from the right from Ahmad Dada.
Four minutes later, D'Abreu had a second clear look on the Al Jazira goal, but his left footer went straight into the waiting hands of Khusaif.
The best chance in the first half for the home team was in the 19th minute following a defensive mistake on the left.
But Walid Murad moved in menacingly and placed the ball wide off the target.
As the match progressed, the visitors started gaining in confidence and this showed with Cocu initiating moves from deep inside his own territory. There was never a dull moment with Cocu all around - attacking and helping in the defence along with former Al Wahda medio Abdul Salam Juma.
Through ball
It was only fitting that Cocu opened the account for Al Jazira in the 28th minute off a harmless-looking move when the Dutchman's knee came in the way of a through ball from Dada.
The alert Al Nasr goalkeeper Salim Abdullah, who had already moved in to intercept the cross was caught wrong footed and the ball trickled into the net off Cocu's leg.
Al Nasr started attacking in earnest from the start of the second half, but never managed to threaten the visitor's goal.
In fact, it was Al Jazira who proved to be more cohesive as they got their second goal with just 13 minutes gone. Cocu moved in tandem with Ahmad Juma on the left and then accepted a slight tap to place past Abdullah on the Al Nasr goal for his second goal of the night.
After that the visitors fell back to defending their lead, and despite the inclusion of the nippy Mohammad Ebrahim, Al Nasr failed to break the tight Al Jazira defence till the end.
The league will continue today with Al Dhafra hosting Sharjah, while Al Wahda will have defending champions Al Wasl in Abu Dhabi.
Al Wahda vs Al Wasl (7.15)
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
