By Abdellatif M Sharaa

KUWAIT: Arabi and Salmiya football clubs met earlier than scheduled yesterday because Arabi will play an international match on Saturday. The match was different and was filled with action and excitement. Arabi player Ali Khalaf opened the score seven minutes into the match. In the 14th-minute, Arabi’s Mohammad Al-Soula received a pass from Al-Sanousi and was able to score the second goal.

Arabi pressed harder in the first half, but was not able to get past Salmiya’s goal keeper Abdelrahman Al-Fadhly. In the second half, Salmiya’s players took control and it was not long before Salmiya’s Alex Lima headed a goal. Arabi’s Lamine Diakite scored the third goal but was disallowed after a VAR review.  Salmiya was able to snatch a point as after Carlos Rivas scored the equalizer in the very last minute of the match. Salmiya now tops the table with four points, while Al-Arabi remained fifth - with two points. The match saw the referee Ahmad Al-Ali showing 12 yellow cards, and a red card.

This second round match raised hope that Zain football premier league may be better than previous one, after a scary start. In the first round, Champions Kuwait lose to the newly promoted Jahra team. Only 12 goals were scored in the first round. The supposedly weaker teams showed more resilience and were not afraid to attack. Arabi were lucky to grab draw, as Nasr’s Mohammad Duham missed a penalty kick that could given his team a win. Qadisiya squeezed through, at the very end when player Patrick Malo scoring the winning goal. Jahra’s players were more disciplined than their opponents and kept their opponents at bay, bearing in mind that their goal keeper Bader Al-Saanoon had his own heroics.