Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Naft 17th with 40 points, Al Diwaniya 20th with 12, 28 apart. On the form table Naft stood 6th over the last five rounds, despite being 17th overall. Against a league average of 1.09 goals per team per game, Naft ran at 1.03 scored and 1.32 conceded, Al Diwaniya at 0.66 and 2.26.
Al Diwaniya arrived off four straight defeats. Over the last five, Naft had taken 7 of 15 points to Al Diwaniya's 1.
Across 7 recorded meetings, Naft have 4 wins to Al Diwaniya's 0, with 3 draws, at 1.71 goals per meeting. More than two goals is the exception here — seen in 29% of meetings.
Al-Shaab Stadium in Bagdad, capacity 40,000, hosted the game. On the scoreboard, Al Diwaniya led 1-0 at the break; 1 second-half goal set the final 1-1.