Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic hits out at negative Al Wasl after Arabian Gulf Cup draw

Al Nasr ( blue) and Al Wasl (yellow) played to a scoreless draw last night, something that made Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic complain about Wasl's tactics. Ashraf Umrah / Al Ittihad

DUBAI // Ivan Jovanovic, the Al Nasr coach, accused Al Wasl of playing negative football following a drab goalless draw in the Bur Dubai derby on Friday night.

Wasl, who have not beaten Nasr since a 1-0 league win in the 2009, kept most of their men at the back against the Arabian Gulf Cup champions. Gabriel Calderon, the visiting coach, praised his players for denying Nasr three points.

“Congratulations to the team because we played a fantastic match, a very tactical match,” he said.

“We are in a more difficult condition than Al Nasr, so it is a problem for them if they did not win this match. Not a problem for us if we did not win.”

Jovanovic had different thoughts about the match.

“The game would have been a lot more interesting for both the fans here in the stands and those watching on TV if both teams were playing football,” he said. “Al Wasl are happy to play against us and take a draw, but we as a team never play for a draw. It is a result that never satisfies us.

“We play to win and we take risks, which could open us up at the back, but then every team have their own style and they can follow whatever style they choose to play.

“We will continue to be a team that wants to play positive football and have an organised game. We controlled the game and we had many chances to score. It’s not easy to create many chances to score when one team is playing all the time with 10 players inside their own half.”

In Fujairah, the hosts scored twice in the first 11 minutes to beat Sharjah 3-1. Khalil Khamis gave them a seventh-minute lead and Omar Ali added a second four minutes later.

Christophe Mandanne missed a penalty before the break. Fujairah got a third in the 64th minute through Patrick Eze, but not before Wanderley pulled one back for Sharjah four minutes into the second half.

In the late match, Al Shabab’s Brazilian striker Jo scored twice in the second half to help his team stun Al Ain 2-1 at home.

The hosts took the lead through Lee Myung-joo five minutes from the break, but Carlos Villanueva sidestepping four Al Ain defenders before crossing for Jo to head home the equaliser in the 68th minute. Four minutes from time, Jo headed in Dawood Ali’s delivery to settle the game.

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