Murad Al-Masry (Dubai)
Al Jazira ended the current year with positive signs, after clinching the second victory in a row, defeating Hatta 3-1, in the “12th round” of the “ADNOC Professional League”, reaching “20 points” that it can build on during the remainder of the season.
“Abu Dhabi Pride” once again imposed its character in front of the “rising teams” of the first division, as it refused to surprise them, after it snatched victory over the Emirates and Hatta in a row, and tipped the balance in its favor in the last 11 matches against them, raising its score to 39 victories in 51 matches, note. Specifically, he outperformed “The Hurricane” in all seven matches in the “Professional Era.”
Ali Khasif imposed himself as one of the most prominent stars of the match, in the goalkeeper’s first appearance after an absence due to illness, while Ali Mabkhout’s experience up front played an important role in resolving the confrontation, by making the first goal and scoring the third, knowing that the team faced the circumstances of the absence of important players, including Khalfan Mubarak and Khalifa Al Hammadi.
The Dutchman, Bob de Klerk, the temporary coach of Al Jazira, tried to end his career in the best possible way, while awaiting the identity of the new coach who will have the opportunity to put the cards in order during the coming long period in January, with our team’s participation in the Asian Cup finals.
De Klerk believes that the victory was well-deserved, based on the overall performance during the match. He said, “When Hatta reduced the gap, the visitors felt they were able to equalize, and they put some pressure on us, but we scored the decisive goal.”
He added, “We controlled most of the match, and I think we should have scored the third goal early, in order to completely settle the match, but that did not happen. I am happy with the performance of the players in general, and with our second victory in the last two weeks, we got 6 points, after a difficult period of “Negative results, and I am happy for all the players, and ending the year with an important moral victory.”
For his part, Hatta presented a courageous performance throughout the match, but he lacked offensive effectiveness, as he shot 15 times, including 6 shots inside the goal frame, but he scored once, in a clear indication of the need for a top-scoring foreign striker during the “winter transfers.”
Hatta coach Fabio Vivani spoke after the match, explaining that his team had 10 chances to score but did not exploit them. He said, “We gave the opposing team three goals, and this type of mistake is unacceptable against a big team like Al Jazira.”
He added, “I told the players in the locker room that we have to continue working and provide this performance through which we showed that the team wants to stay. We are playing good football and have confidence in ourselves. We must maintain this pattern and reduce mistakes in the upcoming matches.”
#Abu #Dhabi #Pride #rejects #rising #surprises