Al Arabi drew first blood as early as the third minute when Iwuala picked up a pass from Mohammad Alnassar, powered down the left and blasted a shot into the top right corner that gave Maziya goalkeeper Nemanja Lemajic no chance at all.

 

Maldives' Maziya’s first shot at goal came in the 15th minute, but Hassan Ahmed’s attempt from the right was easily smothered by Al Arabi keeper Sulaiman Abdulghafoor.

The visitors continued to apply pressure, with Alnassar leaping high above the Maziya defence in the 28th minute only to see his header fly just past the right post.

 

Striker Ngoy (pictured above, left) increased their lead in the 41st minute when he controlled the ball off a pass from Hassimi Fadiaga, spun on his marker outside the penalty box and sent a shot that went past Lemajic.

Al Arabi were again the more aggressive side after the break, with Powei scoring their third in the 55th minute when he cooly went past Haisham Hassan on the left and struck a shot from outside the box that flew past an outstretched Lemajic.

Abdulghafoor was finally called into action in the 73rd minute when he punched out a blistering shot from the right by Naiz Hassan and did the same six minutes later with Luis Almedia’s close-range header.

Al Arabi had the final say, however, when Mohsen latched on to a pass from Yousef Alshammari in the 87th minute and slammed home from just outside the box to give his side a well-deserved win.