Braga left disappointed after stalemate

Abu Dhabi - The Pride of Abu Dhabi were two goals to the good against Al Ain but 'The Boss' staged a fine comeback to hold them to a 2-2 draw in a Group B fixture of the Arabian Gulf Cup.

Al Jazira coach Abel Braga was left disappointed after seeing his side let slip a two-goal lead and a win against Al Ain in the Capital Derby.
The Pride of Abu Dhabi were two goals to the good against Al Ain but 'The Boss' staged a fine comeback to hold them to a 2-2 draw in a Group B fixture of the Arabian Gulf Cup. Mirko Vucinic had broken the deadlock for Al Jazira after which Thiago Neves added the second in stoppage time of the first half. But Ryan Babel scored from the spot to reduce the margin and then substitute Saeed Al Kathiri levelled it for Al Ain at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
"We were very good in the first half and were leading with two well deserved goals. But when you finish the first half with such a lead over big opponents like Al Ain, you expect them to attack you relentlessly in the second half. And this is exactly what happened," said Braga.
"I expected this scenario and asked my players to keep possession and use the counter attack to score more goals. But unfortunately, we failed to apply this strategy and we couldn't deal with the game scenario in the second half. We should've used our numerical advantage in the midfield over Al Ain and counter attack them to score more goals. But what happened was different, and they used the counters to equalize," he added.
He said that the draw was a fair result but added that he was disappointed with their performance in the second half. "The draw was a fair result. We were the better side in the first half, and Al Ain were very good in the second. But personally, I am disappointed by our performance in the second half. In the first, we denied Al Ain from creating any significant chances in front of our goal. We were stronger in all departments and created many scoring chances and scored two beautiful and well constructed goals. But we were disappointing in the second half," the Brazilian said.
He also said that conceding four goals from two games was a matter of concern and reiterated that they have to address their fragile defence soon enough. Al Jazira had lost 2-1 to Al Wasl in their opening game of the Arabian Gulf League.
"I know that conceding four goals in two games is a matter of concern. But the nature of a Al Jazira-Al Ain fixture is attack and attack and attack. What worries me more is allowing the opponents to score twice from counter attacks in your backyard. Al Ain didn't press in midfield and didn't force us to make mistakes. But they got the advantage from some individual errors. I have good and talented defenders like Musallem Fayez, who was very good as a right full back tonight."