Al-Arabi Secures First Zain League Victory Against Al-Fahaheel

Al-Arabi’s first team defeated Al-Fahaheel 2-0 in their match yesterday at Sabah Al-Salem Stadium, as part of the sixth round of the Zain Premier League.

With this result, Al-Arabi moved up to six points and climbed to seventh place, with one match from the fifth round still pending. Meanwhile, Al-Fahaheel remained on nine points, staying in fifth place.

This victory marked Al-Arabi’s first win of the season in the league, achieved under the guidance of their new Bosnian coach Darko, who recently took charge following the departure of Croatian manager Goran Sablic. The team had failed to secure any victories in their previous four league matches, lost in the playoff for the 2022 AFC Champions League Two, and suffered three defeats in the AFC Challenge League.

Al-Arabi secured the match early, scoring two goals in the opening minutes. Youssef Majed opened the scoring in the fifth minute, and Ethiopian import Kenan Maliko added a second in the eighth minute.

In the second half, Al-Fahaheel dominated possession and launched numerous attacks, but lacked meaningful offensive threat.

In the 80th minute, referee Youssef Nassar showed a red card to Al-Fahaheel’s foreign player Alvin Fortes for a reckless challenge, following the reintroduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. The match ended with a 2-0 victory for Al-Arabi.