FOOTBALL – BACK-TO-BACK defending champions Al Khaldiya played to a 2-2 stalemate with Riffa last night in their round 13 clash of the 2024-25 Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier League.
The two title hopefuls squared off an in exciting encounter at the National Stadium in Riffa, with both teams exchanging leads but then also conceding equalisers.
Khaldiya dropped points for the second successive week and stayed behind leaders Muharraq on the table. Riffa continued to trail both sides but have dropped one spot to fourth.
In other games yesterday, Sitra posted an impressive 3-0 victory over Manama at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town, while bottom club East Riffa stunned Bahrain Club 3-1 for their first victory of the season at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium in Arad.
Last night’s fixtures wrapped up the 13th round of league action.
At the National Stadium, Khaldiya went ahead in the 10th minute after Gleison Wilson Da Silva Moreira scored with a brilliant show of individual skill. He unleashed a powerful shot from just outside the penalty box that flew to the right of the net past Riffa’s Syrian goalkeeper Ahmad Abduljalil Madanieh.
But the advantage was short-lived as Riffa’s Ali Hasan Saeed fired in a rocket free-kick just eight minutes later from more than 20 yards out. His right-footed effort went into the bottom-left corner of goal, and Khaldiya’s Mohamed Abdelrahim Elgharably could not keep the shot out.
Riffa then went ahead on the stroke of half-time after Algerian professional Samy Frioui headed in from close range off a cross from the right delivered by Brazilian Vinicius Vargas Dos Santos. That put Riffa in front heading into the interval.
But in the 62nd minute, Khaldiya drew level through Bahrain national team star Mahdi Humaidan. He lobbed the ball home following a fine assist by Moreira on a quick counter-attack.
Humaidan was unmarked and he made no mistake with his shot, which eventually earned them a share of the spoils.
Khaldiya came away with only their second draw of the campaign as they went to 29 points – three behind Muharraq. Riffa registered their third tie and improved to 21 points on the standings, but are now in fourth position behind Sitra, who leapfrogged them into third.
Sitra secured their important victory against Manama last night, with goals from Yaya Al Hadj Ousman, Abdulkarim Oumar Diarra, and Vincent Emmanuel separating the two sides.
Ousman opened their account in the 36th minute on a rebound after the ball came off the crossbar.
Diarra and Emmanuel were then on target after the re-start. Diarra scored on the hour mark with a brilliant strike from an acute angle in the right of the area, and then Emmanuel applied the nail in the coffin with Sitra’s third, again off a rebound, after a Diarra attempt was saved but not controlled by Manama’s Redha Bahram Ghuloom.
Sitra rose to 22 points with their sixth win as they climbed one spot on the standings.
Manama suffered a seventh defeat and stayed on 10 markers in third from last place.
In East Riffa’s maiden victory of the season, they fought back from a goal down with three of their own in the final 45 minutes.
Brazilian Gabriel Monteiro Vasconcelos had the lone consolation for Bahrain Club right before the break, but Argentinian Gonzalo German Cordoba equalised for East Riffa with a 56th minute penalty.
Walisson Alex Souza Silva from Brazil then helped lift his team to the three points. He first scored in the 65th minute from the goal mouth after Bahrain Club failed to clear a corner kick, and then made it 3-1 in the eighth minute of second-half injury time, again after some poor defending.
With their triumph, East Riffa went to seven points but remained in last place. Bahrain Club were dealt a sixth defeat and stayed on 15 markers.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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