Dahuk and Al-Talaba played out a 3:3 draw in the Iraqi League's Regular Season round two on Friday evening. The hosts took an early lead through S. Hadi before Rasheed's brace put them ahead at the break. Al-Talaba fought back with two late goals from Y. Hammood to rescue a point away from home.
S. Hadi opened the scoring in the eighth minute, catching the visitors off guard. S. Rasheed then doubled the advantage before the half was out, finding the net in the 19th and 32nd minutes. The visitors looked comfortable enough, but the home side kept knocking on the door.
Al-Talaba refused to lie down. Y. Hammood pulled one back in the 42nd minute, and just two minutes later he levelled the score. The momentum shifted, and by then the visitors had thrown everything at it, pushing for an equaliser.
It was Rasheed who restored Dahuk's lead in the 44th minute, his third of the afternoon. But Hammood struck again in the 49th minute to complete his brace and ensure the match wouldn't end without fireworks. The stadium fell silent when the final whistle blew on a game that everyone could have won.
Both sides shared possession evenly at 50 per cent, though the statistics tell a fuller story. Dahuk registered 73 attacks and 6 corners to Al-Talaba's 63 and 3. The visitors were more clinical, hitting 7 shots on target compared to the hosts' 5, yet found themselves with 2 yellow cards to show for their efforts.
The result leaves Dahuk seventh with 7 points from 5 games, having not lost a single match this season. Al-Talaba remain bottom of the table on 2 points from 4 fixtures. Three draws from five is a solid foundation, and the table goes out of the window in these games anyway.