Erbil get first win of season in return to Iraq Premier League

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Erbil Sports Club are off the mark in their return to the Iraqi Premier League, getting their first win of the 2018-19 season after a 1-0 victory over Al-Talaba at the Franso Hariri Stadium on Sunday.

Following a goalless first half, Mohammed Khalid Jaffal scored the only goal of the match, and what proved to be the winner, in the 55th minute.

With four points from their first two matches, Erbil temporarily sits in fourth place of the Iraqi Premier League with the other teams set to play tomorrow.

The club earned its first points of the new season on Sept. 14, coming back from 2-0 down against Al-Naft to salvage a 2-2 draw.

One of the league’s most successful football clubs, Erbil withdrew from Iraq’s Premier League during the 2016-17 season due to financial issues.

They have been crowned Iraqi Premier League champions four times, most recently in the 2011-12 season where they only lost one match.

Erbil is also the first club from the Iraqi league to qualify for continental club tournaments. In 2008, they qualified for the Asian Champions League but failed to progress from the group stage.

However, in Asia’s second-tier continental tournament, the AFC Cup, Erbil have finished runners-up on two occasions, in 2012 and 2014.

Erbil’s next match in the Iraqi Premier League is away to Naft al-Junoob on Sept. 30.

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