Al Wasl defeated their guests, Kalba, by four goals to nil in the second round of the ADIB Cup Play Off.
Al Wasl entered the match with the following lineup: Mohammed Al Wali in goal, Hugo Neto, Adryelson Silva, Soufiane Bouftini, and Rodrigo Oliveira in defence, Serginho, Siaka Sidibe, Renato Tapia, Yahia Nader, and Brahian Palacios in midfield, and Renato Junior in attack.
The Emperor started the match with attacking pressure and early attempts to open the scoring. Serginho came close to finding the net in the 16th minute after he unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, which was saved by Kalba goalkeeper Sultan Al Mentheri. Two minutes later, Serginho broke into the penalty area and sent a cross that was cleared by Kalba’s defence.
Al Wasl continued their attacking attempts, and Renato Junior came close to scoring in the 43rd minute after his ball went beside the post, bringing the first half to an end with the score level at 0-0.
At the start of the second half, Renato Junior successfully put Al Wasl ahead in the 49th minute from a fast counterattack that he finished with a shot after a precise pass from Serginho. Three minutes later, Brahian Palacios strengthened the Emperor’s lead with the second goal in the 52nd minute, following a beautiful assist from Siaka Sidibe.
Al Wasl’s pressure continued in the second half, and Renato Junior almost added the third goal when he sent a cross into the penalty area towards Serginho, who was unable to score.
Head coach Roy Vitoria made a number of substitutions, bringing on Ridwan Popoola and Leandro Spadacio in place of Siaka Sidibe and Brahian Palacios, Matheus Saldanha and Malik Janeer in place of Renato Junior and Yahia Nader, while Mehdi Taremi came on as a substitute for Renato Tapia.
Al Wasl’s attacking efforts paid off when Leandro Spadacio successfully scored the third goal for Al Wasl in the 83rd minute, following up on a pass from Matheus Saldanha, who scored the fourth goal in the 89th minute.