Al-Jazira made light work of Shamiya on Wednesday evening, running out 5-0 winners at home in Division One's Regular Season round 17. The visitors took control early and never looked back, putting four goals beyond what their hosts could muster. By then the result had settled into something inevitable rather than surprising.
Shamiya sit seventh in the table with just ten points from twenty-one matches — three wins, a single draw and seventeen defeats. They've lost their last two league games after a brief run of results that included a 3-0 win over Yarmuk. And here's the thing, this result widens the gap between them and the teams above considerably.
Al-Jazira remain fourth with thirty-eight points, though their recent form has been patchy. They lost 3-0 to Sporty on their last outing before beating Burgan 2-0 and drawing 1-1 with As-Sulaybiyah. To be fair, they've shown enough quality to keep climbing even without consistency.
The five-goal margin doesn't tell you everything about how the match unfolded, but it does reflect a team that knew what they wanted. Shamiya's defence was left exposed more often than not, and there wasn't much they could do to stop the visitors working the channels.
After this round, Al-Jazira stay four points clear of the teams around them while Shamiya drop further behind. By then the table goes out of the window in these games — but it does matter when you're chasing something.