Al-Ittihad moved up to sixth place in the Premier League with a 2:0 win over Al-Masri in Regular Season round five on Tuesday. The visitors took the lead through an own goal from Baher El Mohamady in the fifty-eighth minute before John Okoye Ebuka added a second just before the end of normal time. Al-Masri had dominated possession but could not find a way through when it mattered.
By then the hosts had already seen three changes at half-time, bringing on Kenneth Semakula, Pascal Phiri and Youssef El Gohary. The substitutions did not shift the momentum, though Al-Masri created one big chance and registered five shots on target. To be fair, the visitors were not troubled until that own goal changed the complexion of the afternoon.
Al-Ittihad made fewer attacks but were sharper in their approach, with four shots on target from eight attempts and an accuracy rate of forty-four percent. The away side also completed more tackles and made thirty-two clearances compared to the hosts' ten. And here's the thing — they had less possession but more control when it counted.
The statistics tell a familiar story: sixty-two percent possession for Al-Masri against thirty-eight for Al-Ittihad, yet the visitors' expected goals of 1.3 matched the hosts' 1.37 despite taking fewer shots. Al-Masri completed 443 passes in the opposition half while the visitors managed 132, but the quality of those passes meant little without a clinical finish. By then the visitors had already secured all three points.
The result lifts Al-Ittihad to ten points from five matches while Al-Masri remain on six after five games. The visitors extend their unbeaten run to four matches and close the gap on the teams above them. Al-Masri's loss means they cannot close the distance on the top half, and the gap between sixth and eleventh remains five points.
