Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Al Ahli 3rd with 81 points, Al Khaleej 11th with 37, 44 apart. Recent form told a different story for Al Khaleej: only 16th in the league over the last five rounds despite sitting 11th. Scoring rates set the scale: Al Khaleej 1.59 scored and 1.82 conceded per game, Al Ahli 2.09 and 0.74, with the league averaging 1.5.
Al Khaleej arrived off three straight defeats. Al Ahli entered with four wins in a row. The five-game form split read 6/15 points for Al Khaleej against 12/15 for Al Ahli.
The sides have met 6 times in the GioScore results database: 0 wins for Al Khaleej, 2 draws and 4 for Al Ahli, at 3.17 goals per meeting. Home advantage has meant little here: 33% of the meetings went to the host. 67% of the meetings finished with three goals or more, and both sides scored in 67%.
The match was played at EGO STADIUM (capacity 15,000). Half-time and full-time told different stories: Al Ahli led 2-1 at the break, before 2 more goals closed it at 1-4.
Goal scorers
Al Khaleej: Georgios Masouras (17') · Al Ahli: Rayan Hamed (8'), Firas Al-Buraikan (34'), Ali Al-Salem (50' og), Matheus Gonçalves (78')
Key stats
Possession: Al Khaleej 46% · Al Ahli 54% · Total shots: 9-13 · On target: 4-7 · Corners: 5-4