Diego Maradona claimed his first win as Al Wasl coach after his side outplayed newly-promoted Emirates to win their Etisalat Cup Group A clash 3-0 in Dubai.
Skipper Essa Ali fired a late brace after Mariano Donda - scorer of a hat-trick on his debut last week - enhanced his burgeoning reputation with the opener just after the interval as to claim maximum points for Wasl.
Played at Al Ahli’s Rashid Stadium due to maintenance work being carried out Wasl's Zabeel Stadium, the 'home' side started brightly and could have taken the lead after just three minutes when Malek Ahmed headed onto his own crossbar, before Hamad Abdullah cleared to safety.
Skipper Essa then passed up a golden opportunity soon to break the deadlock when he somehow contrived to head wide after being picked out unmarked by a Dona corner.
Wasl were without the services of playmaker Edson Puch, who started on the bench because of a calf strain, which meant the onus was on Donda to marshall the midfield, and the Argentine didn't disappoint, once again catching the eye alongside Darwish Ahmed.
The framework rescued Emirates a second time in the 15th minute, when summer recruit Juan Manuel Olivera, still searching for his first goal for the Yellow Empire, struck the right hand post after a lovely turn and shot.
A minute later, Ammar Mubarak headed straight at Emirates goalkeeper Mohammed Saeed as Wasl continued to search for the opener, while the visiting goalkeeper had to be alert to keep out Hassan Ali’s fiercely struck effort from 30 yards in the 23rd minute.
The home side then suffered a blow soon as the lively Fahed Masoud limped out to make way for Puch, who settled in quickly on the left hand side as Wasl continued that elusive search for the opening goal.
Chances continued to come their way as first Mubarak’s shot was blocked by ‘keeper Saeed, then Olivera’s from the rebound was cleared off the line by Emirates skipper Mohammed Saif.
Olivera missed another chance two minutes from the break when he shot over after Hassan Ali squared it to him instead of going for goal himself. It was just not happening for Wasl, who were doing everything right apart from stick the ball in the net.
The message was loud and clear from Maradona at the break - continue to do what you're doing and take the game to their opponents like they did in the opening half.
And two minutes in their perseverance paid off as Donda played a neat one-two with Puch before rifling a shot that ricocheted off the left post before settling in net for his fourth goal in just two games. Certainly one to watch this season.
Wasl almost doubled their lead six minutes later as they continued to pile on the pressure, but Hassan Ali’s chip was too high for his skipper Essa, who would have only had the Emirates ‘keeper to beat.
Maradona’s side seemed to take their foot off the pedal as the second half wore on, which allowed Emirates a little more room, although they came the closest to scoring the second of the night when Puch forced a fine stop from Saeed.
Maradona withdrew Mubarak and threw on Hassan Yousif in the 69th minute, but with Wasl switching off the former Argentina boss stomped to and fro along the sidelines venting his frustration at everyone from the team’s physicians to the referees.
His mood was lifted however in the closing stages as Wasl added two late goals through Essa who tapped home his first five minutes from the end before getting on the end of a teasing left wing cross from Puch to head hom number three.
Three goals, but more importantly for Maradona after his side's defensive horror show against Al Jazira in their 4-3 defeat last week, a clean sheet. Not a bad night's work.
