A huge crowd turned up at the Al Shaab Stadium to witness Al Shorta hang on for a valuable win over Baghdad rivals Al Zawraa. Ali Qasem scored the first goal of the game for Al Zawraa early on, but two goals at the end of half-time from Waleed Salem and Jean Michel N'Lend sealed the win for the Police. The first-half began and on nine minutes, Al Zawraa went a goal up when Ali Qasem converted an inviting cross swung into the spacious penalty box. Ahmed Ayad, Jean Michel N'Lend and Ahmed Fadhel all missed half-chances for Al Shorta before the 45th minute of the game. A long run from Ahmed Ayad resulted in the Iraq international spreading a through ball to Waleed Salem, who skillfully side-footed the ball into the near post to equalise for his side. Just two minutes later, Al Shorta had taken a dramatic lead through a trademark Jean Michel N'Lend power header from Waleed Salem's free-kick. The second-half was more entertaining than the first, yet no goals were seen in this period. Ahmed Ayad's long shot on the 63rd minute was saved before Al Zawraa missed a couple of oppportunities, including striking the bar from a header. Marwan Husain had a shot saved low by Mohammed Hameed, who had a fantastic game in goal. Nashat Akram was substituted on on 88 minutes, resulting in a huge roar from the many Al Shorta fans present at Al Shaab. Nashat, who took the captain's armband from Amjad Kalaf, skilllfully made his way past two defenders at the end before firing the ball devastatingly close to the crossbar but sadly just over it. It was to be the end of the game immediately after this chance and the Al Shorta party when home proudly knwoing that they had kept their unbeaten record and their place at the top of the Iraqi League. Source: http://alshorta.webs.com/matchreports.htm