First-half strikes from Helder Barbosa and Fabio De Lima were enough to give the hosts their third straight triumph in the competition, and they are sitting pretty at the top of Group A with nine points. Before the match, Arruabarrena had called for his players to take the initiative and his team did exactly that at Zabeel Stadium.
“We did a great job and created many chances,” said the 41-year-old. “We were more superior and should have scored more goals. We had a really good first half but Al Wahda were better in the second because they have to score goals to win. Overall it was a great match by us and we can start planning for the next match against Al Jazira (on Wednesday).”
For Wahda, it was their second defeat in the competition and just one point from three leaves them with a challenging task to retain a trophy they won for the first time six months ago. Clarets’ coach Javier Aguirre admitted the better team won.
“They (Al Wasl) played very good match,” said the former Atletico Madrid boss, whose side are alarmingly yet to win this term. “We just didn’t play well and although we played a little better in the second we couldn’t score and their goals were the difference.”