Naft and Al-Karkh met in the Iraqi League Regular Season opener on 14 August, and the hosts ran out 2-0 winners. Caique scored twice in quick succession, then S. Hien saw red in the second half. The result shifts the table for both sides.
Caique opened the scoring in the twelfth minute and doubled the lead twelve minutes later. By then Al-Karkh had already seen their shape unravel. The visitors had more attacks — 74 to 62 — but the danger came from Naft's sharpness in the final third.
To be fair, the match turned when Hien was sent off in the fiftieth minute. Naft held firm after that, keeping a clean sheet despite Al-Karkh's possession advantage. The visitors managed just two shots, none on target, while Naft hit the target four times and missed four.
The statistics tell a familiar story. Al-Karkh held 52 per cent possession and registered 74 attacks, yet produced zero shots on target. Naft had 48 per cent possession, 62 attacks, and converted eight attempts into two goals. The visitors also collected no bookings, while the hosts had one red card and none yellow.
Naft sit fourth with nine points from five games — two wins, three draws, no losses. Al-Karkh remain bottom with one point from five games, having lost four and drawn once. The gap between them was already clear before kick-off, and the result simply confirmed what the standings suggested.