Al-Minaa Basra saw off Garraf 3-0 in the Iraq League's Regular Season third round on Tuesday evening. The hosts took control early and never looked back, moving up to fifth place with seven points from four matches.
K. Jafar opened the scoring in the eighth minute, catching the defence off guard. And here's the thing about that first goal — it set the tone for everything that followed. A. Abdulhussein doubled the lead before the quarter-hour mark, making it 2-0 with a clinical finish. By then, Garraf's shape had already begun to fracture.
The visitors had more attacks overall but couldn't convert their chances. Garraf registered 182 attacks against 149 for the hosts, yet only managed three shots on target compared to Al-Minaa's eight. To be fair, possession told a different story — the hosts controlled 56% of the ball and worked their way through the middle with purpose.
A. Qassem added the third goal in the 90th minute, capping a performance that saw Al-Minaa take eight shots on target with precision. The hosts also had five corners to Garraf's four, though that barely scratched the surface of a dominant display. Neither side received a red card, but the yellow cards told their own tale — one for Al-Minaa, two for the visitors.
The result leaves Al-Minaa fifth in the table with seven points, while Garraf slip further down to 14th on four points. The hosts have now won two of their four league matches, including this convincing victory. For Garraf, it's their second defeat in four games, and they'll need to find their rhythm quickly if they want to climb away from the bottom half.