Al-Zawraa defied all expectations this evening and succeeded in securing the capital's derby in its favor after defeating its rival Al-Shorta with two goals to one, in the highlight of the 28th round of the Iraqi Stars League, held at the Al-Shaab International Stadium, offering the 'Nawras' a significant service to the league leader Al-Jawiya in the title race.

The match began with a moderate pace and mutual attempts from both sides to test each other, before Al-Zawraa gradually imposed its superiority and started to completely control the proceedings as the minutes passed. 

The superiority quickly translated into goals, as Hiran Azad managed to open the scoring in the 22nd minute, giving the Nawras brigade the lead amidst great joy in the white stands.

Al-Zawraa did not give its opponent a chance to catch its breath, as Hiran himself returned just 7 minutes later to add the second goal in the 29th minute, announcing a comfortable lead for his team.

Al-Zawraa continued its pressure and seemed close to clinically killing the match when Hassan Abdulkarim scored the third goal in the 43rd minute, but the referee decided to cancel it for offside after reviewing the play.

Despite this, Al-Zawraa finished the first half leading 2-0 with a performance described by observers as 'nothing short of amazing', after closing all spaces in front of Al-Shorta and appearing more organized and focused.

With the start of the second half, Al-Shorta entered with different intentions and tried to improve its image by making some tactical changes that made it relatively the better side in the first quarter of an hour.

The green pressure resulted in a penalty kick in the 69th minute after the referee returned to the 'VAR' technology, which confirmed a foul inside the area.

Mahmoud Al-Mawas stepped forward to execute it, but goalkeeper Hussein Hassan excelled and saved the ball, yet Al-Zawraa's joy was incomplete, as the referee decided to retake the penalty due to the goalkeeper advancing off the line, a decision that greatly angered Al-Zawraa's technical staff and players, especially since the penalty itself seemed dubious from the start.

This time, Lionel Atiba took on the execution and succeeded in reducing the deficit for Al-Shorta in the 69th minute, making the score 2-1.

The goal ignited the remaining minutes, with Al-Shorta intensifying its attempts to equalize, but Al-Zawraa responded by relying on counterattacks and tight defensive organization.

The 'Nawras' defense delivered a great match and was an impenetrable wall against all of Al-Shorta's attempts, managing to maintain its lead until the final whistle despite continuous pressure in the last 20 minutes.

With this valuable victory, Al-Zawraa raised its tally to 51 points to strengthen its position in fifth place, breaking its last three draws in the best possible way.

As for Al-Shorta, its tally froze at 59 points in second place, receiving a painful blow in the title race.

The loss means that Al-Jawiya now has a golden opportunity to widen the gap to a full 7 points, should it succeed in overcoming Al-Kahraba tonight within the same round.