Al-Fahil beat Al-Tadamun 4-1 in the Premier League's third round on Friday evening. The hosts opened the scoring early and never looked back, despite the visitors having more attacking moves overall. It was a result that left the home side three points clear of the bottom half.
R. Chivaviro put Al-Fahil ahead after two minutes, a sharp finish that caught the visitors off guard. The second goal came through Khalidi's own effort in the fifty-seventh minute, and by then the momentum had shifted decisively. H. Al Rashidi added the third in the sixty-first, and H. Al Taweel made it four in the eighty-first before V. da Silva Vieira struck late for the visitors.
I had backed the hosts to win this one at forty-three percent confidence. You don't pick up a result like that without showing up when it matters, and Al-Fahil were the sharper side in the final third. The visitors had more attacks but couldn't convert, which is the difference between a team that finds its rhythm and one still searching for it.
The statistics tell a story of possession without control. Both sides held fifty percent of the ball, but Al-Fahil recorded twelve shots on target compared to three for Al-Tadamun. The visitors pushed forward with ninety attacks but only managed five corners, while the hosts carved out chances with seven corners and twelve shots on target.
Al-Fahil moved off the bottom of the table to eighth place with three points from three games. Al-Tadamun remain in twelfth with zero points, three defeats and no sign of improvement. The gap between them is now six points, and the visitors have work to do if they want to avoid a longer slide.