Al Nasr hold Bani Yas

Dubai club impress despite being reduced to 10 men

Mahmoud Khamis of Al Nasr (6) and Salem Saeed Salim Al Ali of Bani Yas vie for the ball during their Arabian Gulf League match. — KT photos by Nezar Balout

Bani Yas — Ten-man Al Nasr rallied from a goal down to hold hosts Bani Yas in their opening fixture of the Arabian Gulf League at the Bani Yas Stadium, on a sweat-drenched Monday night.

Haboush Saleh had put the Sky Blues ahead on nine minutes from a set piece but Al Nasr cancelled that out after 40 minutes through Australian Brett Holman.

Al Nasr played out the remaining 18 minutes with 10 men after Ibrahim Toure was sent off.

Bani Yas were without their Asian import Kim Jung-Woo, signed from Al Sharjah, because of a minor calf injury.

The South Korean international sat out of the game just as a precaution.

Al Nasr missed the services Macedonian Ivan Trickovski.

Al Nasr had the first look at goal on four minutes after their Asian import Brett Holman danced his way into the box. But the Australian couldn’t take a crack as he was swarmed by defenders before he was dispossessed.

But thereafter, it was Bani Yas who showed more cohesion and purpose. A minute after Holman’s failed attempt, Spaniard Joan Verdu Fernandez, a product of FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia Academy and who plied his trade with Espanyol in the La Liga, flashed it over the cross bar.

Their relentless pressure in the opening minutes bore fruit and they deservedly broke the deadlock off a set piece. In what was straight out of the training ground, Verdu sent in a low corner and the rushing Talib Salem Talib did a dummy, a copy of what veteran Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo during the World Cup fixture against England, and let it slip through. Haboush Saleh latched onto it and creamed it to the left of goalkeeper Mohammed Ali Ghuloom.

Al Nasr conjured a number of forays towards the half hour mark with a freekick taken from the deep and a corner. But Bani Yas goalkeeper Mohammed Khalef pulled off two good saves.

It seemed Bani Yas would take the lead into half-time but a lapse in concentration by a shaky defence meant Al Nasr could go into the break with honours equal.

Bret Holman played a one-two with Abdulla Qasem and made his way in. Qasem fired in a low cross and the Australian, who didn’t have a clear sight of the target, made space before slipping his effort in between two defenders, with five minutes left.

Mohammed Khalef dived to his right but in vain. Al Nasr looked a much improved side in the second half and could have taken the lead on 55 minutes after former Monaco man Ibrahima Toure darted down the right and teed it up for Tariq Ahmed. But the Ahmed’s pile driver just whizzed over the cross bar.