AL Hala sealed an important 4-3 win over league leaders Manama in the fifth game of the Bahrain First Division Football League at Al Ahli Stadium in Al Zinj yesterday.
This was Al Hala’s first victory in the league this season after five rounds.
Al Hala took an early lead at the five-minute mark through their Brazilian striker Rodriguez. They managed to keep Manama at bay and ended the first half leading 1-0.
In the second half, Manama sought to bounce back by going on the offensive and managed to level the score through Ali Haram in the 55th minute.
Just when it looked Manama would turn the tables and claim a win, their left-back Sayed Hussain Al Alawi was shown the red card, reducing the league leaders to 10 men.
Al Hala quickly made use of their one-man advantage and regained the lead after Hussain Haji scored in the 62nd minute.
The team managed to extend their lead in the 79th minute thanks to their Brazilian striker Diego who easily converted his effort into the net.
Al Hala, who looked confident having a two-goal lead and a one-man advantage, were up for a shock as Manama pulled one back through their attacking midfielder Essa Ghaleb who struck from the halfway mark in the 80th minute.
Five minutes later, Al Hala were dealt another blow when Manama’s Brazilian player Everton levelled scores with a magnificent goal.
The dying minutes of the game saw both teams press hard for the winner, and Al Hala’s Diego was the lucky one as he got his team the three points scoring in the fourth minute of added time.
Second
In the second league game, which took place at National Stadium last night, Al Malkiya scored a 1-0 win over Al Ahli, who suffered their second defeat in a row. It was Malkiya’s first league win.
The lone goal of the match was scored by Syrian attacker Isra Amer in the 64th minute.
Week five will resume today with three games.
East Riffa will host Bahrain Club at 4.20pm at Muharraq Stadium while title holders Al Hidd will come up against Al Najma at 5.30pm at Al Ahli Stadium.
The last match of the night will see Muharraq take on Riffa in what is considered to be the local derby.
However, Muharraq currently sit in second place, with two games in hand, below league leaders Manama.
Riffa, who finished last year’s campaign in fourth, are now in 10th place. They are now under newly appointed coach Salman Shareeda, who was with league champions Al Hidd last year.
The match will be the first game for Shareeda after taking over following the departure of Portuguese coach Miranda, who failed to get a win after four games.
The match kicks off at 6.45pm at National Stadium.
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