Nelson Valdez may have played his last game for Al Jazira, but what a way to sign off

Paraguayan scores two in 3-0 win over Al Shaab, but coach Walter Zenga coy about the forward's future after the match.

Nelson Valdez, right, may have signed off his Al Jazira career with two goals last night against Al Shaab. Christopher Pike / The National
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Al Jazira 3 Al Shaab 0

Al Jazira Valdez 06', Valdez 10', Ali Mabkhout 57'

Al Shaab None

ABU DHABI // Nelson Valdez played a match-winning role in Al Jazira’s comfortable victory last night but may have played his last game for the club.

The Paraguay international is set to be replaced as one of Jazira’s four foreign nationals but the coach Walter Zenga refused to speak on the subject.

“I am only muddarab miskeen [poor coach] and this is a matter for the club management to speak,” he said without ­elaborating.

Valdez scored two early goals and Ali Mabkhout added the third in the second half for Al Jazira to complete a 3-0 triumph over bottom team Al Shaab at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

On six minutes Khamis Ismail floated a long ball from his own half and Mabkhout headed it on towards Valdez, who fired it past the goalkeeper Hussain Sahrab from in front of goal.

The forward doubled the lead with another tap-in after exchanging passes with Mabkhout from another long ball for a 2-0 lead in the 10th minute.

The provider of Jazira’s first two goals then turned scorer in the second half. Mabkhout picked up a pass from Sultan Bargash, rounded Sahrab and tapped in to an empty net to seal the match.

“We played this game in the right way. The margin of victory wasn’t important but the good thing is that we didn’t concede a goal,” said Zenga.

“After the game everyone may have seen it as an easy game for us but it was never easy before we went to the pitch.”

Jazira went into the game with a dozen players absent, including the injured Brazilian forward Ricardo Oliveira and the suspended Moroccan international Abdelaziz Barrada

“I fully trust my players. All of them,” Zenga said when asked about the absentees, who also included several UAE Olympic team players.

“It was a difficult week in selecting the team because of injuries, suspensions and players on national duty. Sometimes it is easy for the coach to name the line-up when some of the players are absent.”

Zelijko Petrovic, the Shaab coach, said he was more disappointed with the performance of his players than the result.

“I know this is not our level,” he said. “We played a good game last week against Al Wahda but tonight we gave away possession more than 30 times.

“Normally our midfield are technically sound. I don’t know what they ate today. It was not our game.

“It is important to have some control of the game in the first 15 minutes but we just didn’t do anything close to that.”

(B>Report card

Al Jazira – Jazira showed fluency throughout the 90 minutes helped by the two-goal cushion early in the game. 8/10

Al Shaab – fell flat after the two earl goals. They managed to have a couple of shots at the Jazira goal but that was as close they came. 4/10

Man of the match – Nelson Valdez scored two vital goals that set the platform for his team to ease past Shabab.

apassela@thenational.ae

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