FOOTBALL – AL Khaldiya marched through to the final of the 2024-25 His Majesty the King’s Cup last night following a 2-0 victory over Muharraq at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
A second-half strike from Jordanian Ali Al Azaizeh and an own goal from Waleed Al Hayyam secured the big win for the two-time defending champions of the Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier League.
Khaldiya will now take on Sitra in the final of the kingdom’s richest football tournament. Sitra secured their berths with a hard-earned 2-1 triumph against Riffa on Wednesday night.
The title-decider has yet to be scheduled by the Bahrain Football Association.
Following a goalless first half yesterday, Khaldiya scored both their goals with errors from their opponents.
They went ahead in the 53rd minute after a poor back-pass from Al Hayyam to goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah was not properly cleared.
Luthfallah had come off his line and Azaizeh took full advantage after gaining possession.
He then lobbed the ball over Luthfallah from around 30 yards out, as the Muharraq custodian could not recover in time.
Khaldiya then secured the victory with just three minutes remaining in regular time when a cross from the left by Gleison Wilson Da Silva was inadvertently headed in by Al Hayyam.
The normally dependable Bahrain international had miscommunication with Luthfallah, who moved forward from goal to collect Da Silva’s pass but Al Hayyam was first to the ball.
With the result, Khaldiya got their revenge over Muharraq, who booted them out of the competition last year at the same stage.
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