Umm Salal beat Al Arabi 3-0 in the closing match of Week 11 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Sunday, December 8, 2024.

Kenji Gorre (fifth minute), Antonio Mance (27th minute) and Oussama Tannane (38th minute) scored the goals for The Orange Fortress.

Their fourth win of the league saw Umm Salal climb up to sixth place in the standings with a tally of 14 points, while Al Arabi remained on 10 points at the half way mark of championship.

Umm Salal shocked their fancied rivals right at the start firing the opening salvo with a well co-ordinated effort. Captain Victor Lekhal moved the ball down the right to Mance who provided a fine cross which was caught by Gorre just out of the outstretched hand of Al Arabi goalkeeper Mohammed Saeed Ibrahim to score.

The goal left Al Arabi shocked and they tried to launch an offensive, but were held back by the strong Umm Salal defence.

While Al Arabi’s defence too appeared strong, it was smartly broken through by Umm Salal.

With Al Arabi trying to mark Umm Salal attack line, Lekhal chose to lob the ball to his left as Mance volleyed a left-footer to find their second goal.

Six minutes later, Al Arabi managed to break past the rival defence as Rodrigo unleashed a shot which was deflected by a diving Ibrahim, but there was Abdullah Al Sulaiti at hand to put the ball into the net. The joy for Al Arabi was, however, shortlived as the referee ruled the player offside.

Five minutes later, Umm Salal delivered another blow, with Mance this time making a lob again to the left of the danger area from where an unmarked Tannane struck the third goal for his team.

The second session was more subdued comparatively as Al Arabi tried hard to challenge the opposition, but with no success.

In the 66th minute, Rodrigo again fired from top of the box, but his kick was cut off by the rival goalkeeper.

In the 72nd minute, Umm Salal threatened to score again, but this time a Tannane kick hit the bottom of the left post before being parried to safety.

The Ooredoo Stars League will now go into a winter break.