Al Kuwait defeats Al Jahra... and tops the Zain League
Kuwait returned to the top of the Zain Premier League football standings after defeating Al-Jahra 1-0 in their match at the Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium, as part of the third round fixtures.
The match began with Kuwait applying offensive pressure, which was met by a defensive block from Al-Jahra. Al-Jahra’s goalkeeper, Mubarak Al-Harbi, shone and helped deny several clear-cut chances until the 29th minute, when Al-Mahdi Barahma scored the opening goal. He finished a cross from Amr Abdel Fattah with a surprising header past the goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Al-Jahra relied on quick counter-attacks, but they did not pose any significant threat to Kuwait’s goalkeeper, Saud Al-Houshan.
With the start of the second half, the advantage remained with “Al-Abyad” (Kuwait). Mohammed Daham threatened Al-Harbi’s goal with a shot in the first minute of the half, but the goalkeeper saved it skillfully. Al-Jahra had only one chance in the final minutes of the match, but Kuwait’s goalkeeper, Saud Al-Houshan, saved it.
Meanwhile, Qadsia surpassed the previous league leaders, Al-Nasr, by defeating them 3-0 in their match at the Mohammed Al-Hamad Stadium, marking the start of the same round’s competitions.
Al-Sulaibikhat opened the scoring through Brazilian player Santos in the 13th minute. Bandar Al-Salama then gave “Al-Akhdar” (Al-Qadsia) the lead by scoring the second goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
In the second half, Al-Sulaibikhat turned the tables on their hosts by equalizing through Abdulaziz Al-Bushra in the 56th minute, followed by a third goal from Lucas Chalon from a penalty kick in the 97th minute.
In the final moments, Al-Arabi’s player Abdulwahab Al-Awadi managed to score an equalizer in the 98th minute, earning both teams a point.
With this draw, Al-Arabi moved up to two points, the same tally as Al-Sulaibikhat.
In the first match, Al-Abdali entered their game buoyed by their 2-0 victory over Al-Tadamun in the second round, relying on several outstanding foreign players, including Uzbek Shahzod Azimov, Congolese Trezor Chebiwabo, Gabonese David Sambyza, Bahraini Abdullah Youssef, and Syrian Mahmoud Al-Aswad.
On the other hand, Al-Sahel will not be an easy opponent, as they delivered a strong technical performance in their last match against Kazma, under the guidance of their national coach Ali Abdul-Razzaq, who knows the Salmiya team well.
As for the second matchup, Kazma arrives as a tough visitor to Al-Shabab, seeking a win to make up for their stumble in their last match, where they were close to defeating Al-Sahel, but luck deserted their strikers Shuaib Al-Khalidi and Nasser Mohammed, resulting in a goalless draw.
