Wahda knock out Jazira; Sharjah breeze past Wasl

Omar Jumaa of Sharjah outduels goalkeeper of Al Wasl Yousef to score a goal during the President's Cup at Al Shabab Club on Wednesday.

For all intents and purposes, this was supposed to be a lip-smacking tussle between two Abu Dhabi powerhouses in Dubai, a Derby encounter between Al Wahda and Al Jazira.
But Sebastian Tagliabue and Balazs Dzsudzsak made it more than something of a no contest.
The Argentine and the Hungarian captain combined to send Al Jazira packing in the quarterfinals of the President's Cup.
This was not what the Pride of Abu Dhabi envisaged, the holders' pride truly dented, at the Zabeel Stadium on Wednesday night. And they will be left smarting under one of the heaviest thrashings, a 6-0 defeat, for some time.
Tagliabue and Dzsudzsak were the architects, with the Argentine firing a hat-trick, including a penalty, while the Hungarian, who shone at Euro 2016, tucked in two, including a penalty as well. Mohamed Barghash scored the other as The Clarets knocked their rivals off for a six.
Five bookings were the only things Al Jazira had to show from this encounter.
Meanwhile, Jose Peseiro began his reign as Al Sharjah boss with a 4-2 victory over Al Wasl at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium. Venezuelan striker Gelmin Javier Rivas scored a hat trick.
"It was an accident. The score is not the real difference between the teams. Al Jazira are No.1 in the league so it's a very strange score," a surprised Al Wahda coach Javier Aguirre, said.
Meanwhile, Al Jazira coach Henk ten Cate said that this loss was a wake-up call.
"It was a total failure of the entire team. I take full responsibility for this defeat. It's exactly the same players who lost only one game in six months.
"This is a wake-up call for everybody. It's a lesson for us, a big lesson," said the Dutchman.
james@khaleejtimes.com