Al Wahda denied as Emirates snatch a point

Modibo Diarra enjoyed an eventful return to the Al Nahyan Stadium on Sunday night, scoring at both ends as Emirates snatched a thrilling 2-2 draw at Al Wahda. The Ivory Coast forward showed wonderful skill to tee up Abdulla Nini Al Shehhi for the game’s opening goal but after Fernando Baiano had equalised, he glanced in Ismail Matar’s corner on the stroke of half-time. That looked like being the game’s decisive moment but the former Wahda player redeemed himself in the 85th minute, firing low past Mutaz Abdulla to seal a precious point. The home side were again missing several key players for the visit of the Pro-League’s basement club, as Hugo – suspended after collecting three yellow cards – joined Magrao and Mohamed Al Shehhi in the stands. And, as the game got underway their absence was keenly felt. Baiano had an early penalty appeal turned down as his volley appeared to strike Mohamed Ali’s arm, but it was Emirates who began to dominate. Wahda survived two scares in quick succession around the quarter-hour mark as first Mutaz pulled off a smart stop to deny Al Hassane Keita before Diarra could only poke wide from 10 yards. The returning forward was at the heart of the move that gave his side the lead in the 21st minute though. The forward jinked past two defenders on the by-line before selling Hamdan Al Kamali with a dummy and chipping a delicate cross over Mutaz for Nini to gleefully head home. Despite surrendering the initiative for much of the opening 30 minutes, the home side found themselves on level terms in the 31st as Khalid Jelal’s well-judged through ball was met by Eisa Santo. The stand-in right-back – who celebrated his 25th birthday on Friday – picked out Baiano with his cross and the Brazilian had time to take the ball down, swivel and pick his spot. The goal appeared to wake Josef Hickersberger’s side up and they took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Matar’s corner from the left, was met by his former team-mate Diarra. Hickersberger’s tinkering had cost them in their last league match against Al Jazira, but here a switch at half-time to 4-3-3, with Salem Saleh coming on, helped them dominate the second period. Baiano had a header cleared off the line by Diarra in the 54th minute as the home side pushed for a third, before Matar skimmed the outside of the post with a skidding effort from 30 yards, with 20 minutes left. However, their inability to kill off their hosts proved costly as Diarra latched onto Khalid Darwish’s lobbed pass to fire left-footed past Mutaz and redeem his earlier mistake. Al Wahda (4-4-2): Mutaz 6; Eisa Santo 7, Hamdan 6, Al Shaibah 6, Haidar © 6; Amer 5 (Saleh, 6), Jelal 8, Yaoub 6 (Al Shehhi, 6), Khamis 7; Matar 7, Baiano 6 Emirates (3-5-2): Al Hammadi 6; Mohamed 6, Ali © 7, Khairi 6 (Saleh, 6); Nini 7, Moutaouali 7, Ambar 5 (K Al Saadi, 7), Haitham 6, Nouri 6; Diarra 8, Keita 7 (M Al Saadi, 5) Ref: Abdulla Najee Al Harthi Attendance: 1,416