Al Wasl secured a straightforward victory away to Al-Ittihad Kalba, winning 3-0 in the Pro League's Regular Season stage. The visitors finished with all three points on the board, while their hosts remain rooted to the bottom of the table. And here's the thing about this one — it wasn't a thriller, just a matter of efficiency from the away side.
A. Saleh opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the eighteenth minute, giving Al Wasl the lead they would build on. N. Gimenez doubled the advantage four minutes later, and the match was effectively decided then. By then, Al-Ittihad Kalba were already chasing shadows, and the visitors had ended a barren spell against this opposition.
The statistics tell a familiar story about wasted opportunity. Both sides held fifty per cent possession, but shots accuracy told the real tale — Al Wasl converted at forty-three per cent compared to twenty-two for the hosts. They created two big chances while Al-Ittihad Kalba managed none, and that gap between xG figures, 1.9 to 0.77, reflected the reality on the pitch.
To be fair, the hosts kept knocking on the door through the second half, but without cutting edge. Six substitutions came in quick succession as the game slipped away, and R. Popoola picked up a yellow card in the seventy-fifth minute for Al Wasl. Renato Junior made the difference with the third goal in the seventy-ninth minute, and that was that.
The result keeps Al Wasl in fourth place, nine points from the bottom after four games. Al-Ittihad Kalba remain on just one point, having lost three of their opening four matches. They will make life awkward for those chasing them, but this was a day when the visitors saw it out comfortably.