Braga not worried by Oliveira

A disappointing display from record Pro League signing Ricardo Oliveira was the only concern for Al Jazira as they began their campaign in winning fashion at Al Shabab.

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A disappointing display from record Pro League signing Ricardo Oliveira was the only concern for Al Jazira as they began their campaign in winning fashion at Al Shabab. A 40-yard free-kick from Subait Khater in the last minute gave the Abu Dhabi side the points as they triumphed 2-1 in Friday's clash, but Oliveira's poor showing was a talking point. The Brazilian striker, who signed for Jazira in the summer for ?15 million (Dh80.84m), cut a forlorn figure as he struggled to make an impact and he was withdrawn by manager Abel Braga with six minutes left.

But Braga was keen to defend Oliveria and said: "Ricardo was playing his first competitive game after a long gap and it is not easy to play under such harsh weather conditions. "Ricardo has nothing to prove and we are all aware of that. It is a matter of time for him to fully adapt, particularly the harsh September weather conditions. "The important thing for me was the three points." Jazira had opened the scoring in the 59th minute through Abdulsalam Jumaa. The Brazilian Pedrao levelled things with 19 minutes to go, before Subait's free-kick won it for Jazira.

Meanwhile in Friday's other game, Al Dhafra began their season with a 4-2 success over 10-man Ajman. Abas Mowiwa netted either side of half-time after Mohammed Salmain and Abdulla Faraj had struck two early goals. Ajman's Ahmed Ali was sent off for a foul in the 41st minute. Jassim Ali and Javad Kazemian scored their goals. Last night, Adnan Husain scored twice as the promoted Emirates beat Sharjah 3-2. Emirates were two up at half time through Husain and Musallam Ahmed. The Brazilian Marcelinho pulled one back 10 minutes after the break, but Husain netted again on 76 minutes. Abdulla Saif stuck a late consolation

apassela@thenational.ae