FOOTBALL – The 14th round of the 2024-25 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier League continued last night with a pair of hard-fought draws taking place at separate venues.
Relegation-threatened Manama and A’ali played to a 1-1 stalemate at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium in Arad, while Al Shabab were held to a goalless draw by Al Malkiya at the National Stadium in Riffa.
In Manama’s game with A’ali, the latter were on target first after being awarded a penalty in the 15th minute. Yunes Moosa Hasan was adjudged by the referee, following a VAR review, to have handled the ball just inside the area on an attempt to block a cross delivered by A’ali’s Yassine Karim Benmansour.
Brazilian professional Robson Da Silva stepped forward to take the spot kick and he hit a powerful shot to the top-right corner of the net, past Manama goalkeeper Redha Bahram Ghuloom. That was enough to send A’ali into the break with the slim lead.
After the re-start, Manama drew level only 10 minutes in. Uruguayan import Gaston Rodriguez Maeso sent in the leveller for his team, firing in a left-footed volley from the outside edge of the six-yard box off a short cross from fellow-substitute Mohammed Ahmed Abdulmalik.
Both teams pressed hard over the final minutes to try and come away with a winner, and A’ali came closest to being rewarded. But Hassan Oumar Abdelaziz missed an incredible chance to steal the three points for his team deep into second-half injury time. Abdelaziz had a free header right in the face of goal off a Da Silva corner-kick, but he failed to connect with the ball despite being unmarked.
With the result, both teams stayed amongst the bottom three sides on the league standings as the season heads into its home stretch. Manama posted their fifth standoff and went to 11 points, not far ahead of A’ali, who claimed their fourth draw to go to 10 points.
Both Manama and A’ali are only ahead of East Riffa, who are bottom of the table and who are in action this evening.
In yesterday’s other game, Shabab and Malkiya were both unable to find the net in a head-to-head between two middle-of-the-table clubs.
Both teams improved to 19 points with the result. Shabab claimed their fourth draw while Malkiya registered their seventh.
Round 14 of the 2024-25 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier League wraps up tonight with one game on schedule. It will be between East Riffa and Al Najma, who will face off at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium. Their match is scheduled for a 7pm kick-off.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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