Oussama Tannane scored the lone goal as Umm Salal defeated Al Duhail 1-0 in Week 10 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Duhail club on Friday.

The goal, which came in the 64th minute, was enough for Umm Salal to garner the maximum points and increase their tally to 14, while Al Duhail, who still have two pending matches in the league, remained on 16 points.

Fans of both sides were treated to an exciting display of football artistry as the two teams went toe-to-toe right from the blast of the opening whistle.

Despite a series of back-and-forth attempts, neither of the teams could get a headway in the first half as poor finishing was their bane, with Al Duhail expectedly getting and missing most of the opportunities.

Al Duhail had a penalty call in the 37th minute after Almoez Ali seemed to have been badly fouled in Umm Salal’s 18-yard box, but the decision was overturned after a VAR check.

Al Duhail’s Sultan Al Braik’s right-footed shot from the centre of the box, following an assist by Karim Boudiaf, in the 43rd minute was saved in the centre of the goal, while Umm Salal’s Kenji Gorre was caught offside while making an attempt at goal just before half-time.

The match remained stalemated as the first half came to a close.

With Al Duhail having most of the opportunities, quite surprisingly, it was Umm Salal that opened the scoring in the 64th minute through Morocco’s Tannane, who fired home a left-footed long-range shot from outside the box that the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Shehab Ellethy simply could not reach. Gorre provided the assist.

Stunned by the goal, Al Duhail made a double substitution, with Boudiaf going off for Ibrahim Bamba, while Mohammed Muntari was replaced by Suhaib Gannan in the 67th minute.

Al Duhail’s top scorer Michael Olunga thought he had added to his eight-goal tally so far this season in the 72nd minute, only to have the goal chalked off by a VAR decision.

Much to the dismay of The Red Knights fans, Umm Salal survived their team’s several onslaughts to go home with the much-needed morale-boosting victory.