Umm Salal and Al Arabi played out a goalless draw in Week 15 of the 2020-21 season QNB Stars League at the Al Duhail Stadium on Tuesday.

Umm Salal and Al Arabi are now on 15 and 20 points respectively. It was the second successive draw for both teams.

A flurry of exchanges were witnessed, especially in the first half, but neither side could find the target.

For Al Arabi, captain Aron Gunnarsson led from the front by playing the entire 90 minutes with his trademark aggressive game.

In the fifth minute, Mohammed Salah El Neel’s snap-header on a long throw-in lacked speed as Umm Salal goalkeeper Baba Malick collected the ball with relative ease.

A few moments later, Gunnarsson also managed a header from close range on a corner kick, but the keeper dived to his left to stop the ball.

After a few missed chances, Al Arabi’s Mahdi Torabi attempted to break the deadlock with a long-range shot from outside the box, but the curling shot was pouched by Malick in the 20th minute.

Four minutes later, Gunnarsson, known for his long throw-ins, delivered one for Sebastian Soria inside the Umm Salal box. Soria produced a header, but the ball was collected by the keeper.

Al Arabi played with 10 men from the 37th minute after Ibrahim Nasser Kalla was shown the red card for tugging the jersey of Ahmed Hammoudan, who had picked up a loose ball and charged into the rival box. Referee Saoud Ali Al Athba wasted little time in giving marching orders to Kalla though Umm Salal wasted the free-kick taken from the edge of the box.

However, Umm Salal failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage.

The second half also saw both teams create chances which, however, did not bear fruit. In one instance, in the 77th minute, Torabi delivered a cross from the right wing and Malick fumbled with the ball. Soria, stationed within striking distance, attempted to tap the ball into the net, but ended up hurting the goalkeeper.

Both sides failed to break the deadlock even as coaches made a flurry of substitutions.