Novruz claim victory over Naft Maysan in Baghdad
Novruz took all three points with a 2-0 win against Naft Maysan in the Iraqi League's fifth round, played on September 4th. The visitors struck first through M. D. Ismael in the thirty-fifth minute, then M. Hussein sealed it late on. To be fair, Naft Maysan dominated possession throughout, but that rarely matters when you're losing.
Ismael's opener came after a period of pressure from the away side. By then, Naft Maysan had been passing around confidently, but their fourth of seven shots on target never found the net. And here's the thing about matches like this — you don't need possession to score when the opposition leaves a gap.
The second goal arrived in the eighty-fifth minute, a moment that felt inevitable rather than surprising. Novruz had only one corner all afternoon, yet they found space when it counted. The home side's twenty-two attacks produced nothing, while the visitors' fifteen shots on target told a different story entirely.
The statistics paint an odd picture. Naft Maysan held 55 per cent of the ball and registered 111 attacks compared to Novruz's 94. Yet the away team landed seven shots on target to the hosts' four. It's the sort of mismatch you've seen in old documentaries — the team that doesn't control the game controls the result.
Novruz move to fourth place with eight points from five games, while Naft Maysan remain rooted at the bottom with three points and no wins. The visitors' recent form hasn't been spectacular — they've drawn twice and lost twice in their last five — but this result suggests something is clicking at the right moment.
Naft Maysan will need to find a way to turn possession into something more than numbers on a page. They've drawn three times already, and drawing doesn't keep you in the conversation when you're fighting for survival. Novruz, meanwhile, have shown they can take points away from teams that dominate the ball.