Al-Wahda saw off Baniyas 2-1 in the Pro-League Regular Season on Saturday, a match that looked settled long before the final whistle. F. Kruspzky opened the scoring in the twenty-third minute, and Y. Niakate doubled the advantage before half-time. The visitors looked comfortable for most of the afternoon, but A. Zouhir's late strike in the eighty-ninth minute added unnecessary drama to an already decided contest.
By then, Al-Wahda had camped in the final third with possession, and their dominance showed in the numbers. They created three big chances against the visitors' two, but only converted when it mattered most. Baniyas kept their side in it through defensive resilience, making 36 clearances to their opponents' ten, but the effort wasn't enough to change the outcome.
And here's the thing about matches like this — the statistics tell a different story from what you see on the pitch. Al-Wahda registered 16 shots with an expected goals total of 3.65, yet managed only two goals. Baniyas, by contrast, shot just four times but kept their accuracy at 44 per cent. The hosts gifted the goal through a lapse in concentration, and that's often how these games are decided.
Substitutions came thick and fast in the second half, with Al-Wahda bringing on Jadsom in the sixty-fourth minute before a four-man change in the seventy-first. Baniyas responded with F. Awana in the seventy-ninth, then added two more in the eighty-fifth. The yellow cards told their own tale — Kruspzky, Camara, Koroma and Isaila all saw cards, suggesting tempo and tension rose as the match progressed.
The result leaves Al-Wahda tenth in the table with three points from three games, while Baniyas remain rooted at the bottom with zero points from their opening three fixtures. The hosts ended a barren spell of results, having lost to Al-Nassr and Ajman before this. For the visitors, the third consecutive defeat means they're staring at the drop already, and the table goes out of the window in these games anyway.