Qadsia had to wait until the 32nd minute to get their first sight of goal. Saleh Al Hendi tried to curl one from 25 yards out, but his shot was calmly collected by goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil.

Ahmad Zreik thought he had opened the scoring for Al Ahed seven minutes before the break, when he received Hussein Dakik’s through ball and finished into the far corner, but the assistant referee had already raised his flag for an offside.

The hosts suffered a blow in the 39th minute as Fahd Al Mejmed received his marching orders. The Kuwaiti defender caught Mohammed Kdouh from behind, denying him an opportunity to move clear on goal and was instantly dismissed.

Al Ahed took advantage almost immediately. Hussein Monzer’s cross from the corner was nodded by Kdouh onto the path of Al Saleh whose diving header at the far post ricocheted off the frame of the goal and into the back of the net to send the Lebanese side into the dressing room a goal up.

The early proceedings of the second half were dominated by Al Ahed. Kdouh tried his luck twice inside the first 10 minutes, and twice he missed the target.

Gabonese striker Axel Meye came on as a substitute just after the hour-mark and looked to make an impact. His first attempt was a long-range effort that crept inches wide off the upright.

Qadsia remained restricted to a few shy attempts for the remainder of the second half. The introduction of Ronald Ngah failed to make a difference as the Cameroonian miscued his kick from Yousef Naser’s through pass.

A third win on the trot keeps Al Ahed in pole position with 11 points. A draw against Malkiya on the final Matchday will be enough to send the Lebanese side into the Zonal Semi-Finals. Meanwhile, Qadsia will have to defeat Al Suwaiq on May 13 and wait for other results to go their way.