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Baiano shines for Wahda

ABU DHABI - Brazilian forward Fernando Baiano scored a brace as Al Wahda defeated nine-man Bani Yas in Group A of the Etisalat Cup at the Al Nahyan Stadium on Friday night. Baiano scored in the sixth and 81st minutes as Wahda won 2-0.

Both sides were a bit depleted with their players on national duty in the AFC Asian Cup being held in Doha. Wahda were missing Ismail Matar, Mohammed Al Shehi, Saeed Al Kathiri and Mahmoud Khamis, while Bani Yas were without Yousef Jaber, Amer Abdulrahman anmd Theyab Awana.

Despite that Wahda didn’t take long to nudge ahead with their Brazilian forward Fernando Baiano putting them ahead in the very sixth minute. Eisa Al Marzouqi shot into the box and the ball took a deflection off a Bani Yas defender and landed in front of Baiano and he made no mistake.

Wahda could have doubled it in the 39^th minute but Baiano fired his shot over the crossbar.

Bani Yas were down to 10 men just four minutes to half-time after their captain Fawzi Bashir was sent off for pushing the referee Mohammed Abdulkarim Al Zarouni.

Bani Yas coach Noureddine Adibi reinforced his line-up by bringing in Andre Senghor for Thamer Mohammed.

The first half was confined to midfield but things hotted up a bit after the break with Wahda coming up with a couple of chances. But they were denied by Bani Yas custodian Mohammed Khalef on both occasions. Hugo sent a neat pass from the left to Baiano but the latter’s attempt was punched over the crossbar by Khalef on the hour mark.

Later, in the 71^st minute, Magrao’s try was deflected away by the Khalef who dived to his right.

Bani Yas were down to nine men with nine minutes left on the clock after Ali Msarri Al Dhaheri was sent off for a second booking. He fouled substitute Fahed Masoud inside the box and referee Zarouni gave him the marching orders and pointed to the spot. Baiano took the penalty but his shot was punched away by the diving goalkeeper Khalef but the linesman ruled that Khalef was out of line before the shot. Baiano retook the penalty and slotted it home.

james@khaleejtimes.com