By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The 11th round of Kuwait Football League (the ranking phase) had few surprises as teams struggled to finish strong in preparation for the start of the regular season. The premier league will be made up of the top 10 teams, while the other five will remain in the lower rank. The first match saw Salmiya defeating Al-Arabi 3-1, after being down by 1-0.

Salmiya's goals were scored by Hussein Al-Mousawi in the 77th minute, then Alex Lima followed by the second in the 78th and then Patric Fabiano scored in the 4th minute of added time. Salmiya now has 21 points in second place while Arabi's total remained at 15 in 8th place.

Meanwhile, Kheitan was able to gain 3 points - raising their total points to 11 after defeating Sulaibkhat which remains with 5 points. Sahel beat Tadhamon 1-0, giving them a total of 16 points and leaving Tadhamon with 8 points. In the final match of the day, Kuwait was able to hold on and defeated Jahra 3-2.

Kuwait now has 18 points in fourth place while Jahra has 11 in ninth. The first three goals of the match were scored by Kuwait in the first half. Ahmad Al-Akaishi scored twice in the 17th and 30th minutes and Jumaa Saeed scored in the 39th minute. Jahra's two goals were scored by Fahad Ayedh in the 58th minute - then Ahmad Titi scored from the spot in the 83rd minute.