DUBAI: Al Wasl romped to a 4-1 victory over Emirates at the Emirates Club Stadium in Ras Al Khaimah in matchweek 13 of the Arabian Gulf League.

The Cheetahs came from behind to down their hosts thanks to goals from Fabio De Lima and Caio Canedo. The Brazilian duo worked well in the absence of Ronaldo Mendes to help Al Wasl to the three points.

Emirates took the lead ten minutes before the break via Khaled Ambar who received the ball in front of the Al Wasl defence and linked up successfully with Sebastian Saez to before slotting past Sultan Al Manthari.

Al Wasl responded instantly after Lima scored a carbon copy of his goal at this stadium last season with a free kick that went in off the post to make it 1-1 going into half time.

Lima added his second of the night, after Caio crossed from the left for his teammate to make it 2-1 seven minutes after the restart.

Emirates’ wounds were compounded when right back Salem Al Azizi sent a cross-field pass to Caio who shot first time to score the third. One minute before the end of the match, Lima completed his hat trick after he received a pass on the right, cut inside and shot straight at Ahmed Al Shaji who parried it. The Brazilian followed through on the rebound to round the scoring. The victory lifts Al Wasl back to second place with 28 points, three points behind league leaders Al Ain. Emirates, meanwhile, stay in tenth place with ten points.

Lima feted

Meanwhile, the Pro League Committee honoured Al Wasl striker Fabio de Lima with the goalscorer initiative award after the Brazilian bagged his first hat-trick of the season against Emirates.The three goals helped Lima to the top of the competition’s scoring charts with 15 strikes this season.