Calderon rues missed points in Al Wasl's push for third

Al Wasl coach Gabriel Calderon rued those missed points after the stalemate at the Zabeel Stadium on Saturday night.

This may well prove to be a costly miss for Al Wasl in their push for a AFC Champions League spot.   
The Cheetahs are currently involved in a three-way battle for third in the Arabian Gulf League along with Al Nasr and Al Wahda. Importantly, third spot would give any one of these teams a path to next season's AFC Champions League.
Al Nasr had moved to third over the weekend with a 5-2 win over Bani Yas and Al Wasl had the perfect opportunity in front of them to go third after Al Wahda slipped up against Al Dhafra. But The Cheetahs were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Al Sharjah, which put a bit of a dent to their chances.
And Al Wasl coach Gabriel Calderon rued those missed points after the stalemate at the Zabeel Stadium on Saturday night.
"We lost two points which was really very important for us," said the Argentine.
"We made a mistake and that allowed them (Al Sharjah) to score. It is never easy for any team in the League and we need to fight until the end," he added.
Al Wasl face a tricky road for that third position starting with a long trip to the UAE capital to face fellow contenders Al Wahda. They then host the much-improved Dibba before concluding their campaign with a tough away test against Al Shabab.
And Calderon said that they need to erase those mistakes and get maximum points from their remaining three fixtures.
"We need to get good results and we cannot depend on others. It is the most important part of the season and we need to get the maximum points. We need to do well against Al Wahda and there should be no chance for mistakes from here on," said the 56-year-old.
Meanwhile, Al Sharjah coach and former player Abdulaziz Al Anbari said that the draw was a fair result.
"It was a fair result. In the first half, Al Wasl were the better side but in the second half, we played better. We played better than the last match and that makes us happy," said Al Anbari.
james@khaleejtimes.com