Al Wasl drew with their host Khorfakkan by one goal each, in the match that was held at Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Stadium as part of the seventh round of the ADNOC Pro League.
Al Wasl entered the match with a (4-5-1) formation, with Mohammed Al Wali as a goalkeeper, and the defensive line consisting of the quartet Pedro Malheiro, Sofiane Bouftini, Adryelson Silva, and Hugo Neto.
In midfield, Brahian Palacios, Siaka Sidibe, Malek Janeer, Nicolas Gimenez, and Ali Saleh were positioned behind the lone striker Adama Diallo.
Al Wasl started the match with clear offensive pressure seeking an early goal, as Nicolas Gimenez fired a strong left-footed shot from outside the area in the fifth minute, which Khorfakkan goalkeeper Rashid Suhail saved with difficulty.
Despite Al Wasl’s control, Pedro Pavlov scored for Khorfakkan in the eleventh minute, after which Al Wasl continued its attacking attempts without success.
In the thirty-ninth minute, Nicolas Gimenez played a long through ball to Adama Diallo, but the Khorfakkan goalkeeper cleared it.
Before the end of the first half, Al Wasl nearly equalized after a free kick taken by Brahian Palacios in the fourth minute of the stoppage time, which hit the crossbar and rebounded to Adama Diallo, who headed it, but the goalkeeper blocked the ball.
In the second half, coach Luis Castro made several substitutions to strengthen the attacking side, bringing on Matheus Saldanha, Abdelrahman Saleh, and Rodrigo Oliveira in place of Brahian Palacios, Hugo Neto, and Pedro Malheiro, while Fabio Lima replaced Siaka Sidibe.
Al Wasl continued their offensive pressure on Khorfakkan, who remained defensive.The most dangerous opportunity came in the 76th minute from a free kick by Fabio Lima, which the goalkeeper saved, and Adryelson Silva followed up with a header, but the defense cleared the ball from the goal.
In the 79th minute, Al Wasl managed to equalize after a corner taken by Ali Saleh, which was cleared by the defense to Abdelrahman Saleh, who shot strongly, and Fabio Lima finished elegantly with a backheel into the net. He later left the field injured, replaced by Tahnoon Al Zaabi in the second minute of stoppage time.
Despite Al Wasl’s dominance in the final minutes, the match ended with the score remaining 1-1, as the referee blew the final whistle.