Match Report
5 points and 3 places separated them: Masafi 8th with 44, Al Arabi 5th with 49. Al Arabi ranked 1st in the league on five-round form, well above their 5th table position. Per game in the league, Masafi were scoring 1.65 and conceding 1.32, Al Arabi 1.81 and 1.52, against a competition average of 1.48 goals per team per game.
Al Arabi arrived off three straight defeats.
The head-to-head ledger counts 6 games: 3 Masafi wins, 2 for Al Arabi, 1 draw, at 3.67 goals per meeting. Hosting has counted for little in this fixture — the home side has won only 17% of those meetings. History points to goals: 67% of the meetings had three or more.
The match was played at Masafi Stadium (capacity 70,242). Half-time and full-time told different stories: Al Arabi led 1-0 at the break, before 2 more goals closed it at 1-2.
Goal scorers
Masafi: R. Abdulla (50') · Al Arabi: R. Alfalasi (5'), J. Ernest (70')
Key stats
Possession: Masafi 58% · Al Arabi 42% · Total shots: 16-8 · On target: 4-5 · Corners: 3-2