Al Wasl 2 Al Shabab 2
Al Wasl Kazim 7', Lima 32'
Al Shabab Obaid 57', Bruno 90+5'
Red cards Mohammed Ali Ayad (Al Shabab), Caio Correa (Al Wasl), Waheed Ismail (Al Wasl)
DUBAI // With 12 yellow cards and three red, referee Yousuf Al Hammadi was the talk of the Zabeel Stadium on Saturday night as Al Shabab fought back from 2-0 down to share the points with Al Wasl.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men before the break and, on 59 minutes, Wasl’s captain Waheed Ismail picked up his second yellow inside six minutes to leave the hosts with nine men.
The team managers of both sides were also sent off to the stands.
“Normally, he is a very good referee,” Shabab coach Caio Junior said. “But the problems started because of the first mistake he made when he did not send off the Wasl defender. What more can I say? I don’t like to talk about the referee, but I have not seen 12 yellows and three red cards in one game. This is abnormal, but then this was not a normal game.”
The Wasl defender to escape an early red card was Hassan Zahran. Booked in the second minute, he should have received his marching orders six minutes later following a studs-up slide into the Shabab goalkeeper.
The referee chose to ignore the incident and got it wrong again when he later booked Shabab defender Mohammed Ali Ayad twice within eight minutes.
A minute from the break, he seemed to decide to level the playing field and flashed a straight red for Wasl’s Caio Correa after he had an innocuous, verbal duel with a couple of Shabab players.
“We were in complete control until the referee decided to interfere,” Wasl’s Gabriel Calderon said. “We should have won 2-0, but the red card changed everything. With 11 against 11 players on the pitch, we were definitely the better team. I have been here for one-and-a-half months and I have received so many yellow cards, three red cards and penalties. It is so difficult to play in such a situation.”
Al Wasl v Al Shabab report crad
Star performer: Essa Obaid (Al Shabab) A second-half substitute, Obaid looked sharp as he pulled one back for Shabab and came close to equalising a few times.
Underperformer: Referee Yousuf Al Hammadi The official lived up to his tag of Mr Cards with three send offs, the first two of which looked like shockers.
Key moment Booked in the second minute, Wasl defender Hassan Zahran should have been given his marching orders six minutes later for a boots-up, sliding tackle on the Shabab goalkeeper, but the referee ignored it.
Wasl rating 4/10 Wasl were the better organised of the two sides and were unfortunate not to get three points from the game.
Shabab rating 4/10 The visitors looked a bit subdued, but it was understandable given the officiating.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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