FOOTBALL – AL Khaldiya posted a hard-earned 2-0 victory over Riffa last night in the concluding fixture of match week six in the 2025-26 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
Goals from Mohammed Al Rumaihi and Mahdi Abduljabbar in the opening half gave Khaldiya the full three points, which put them in first place on the standings with four wins.
They are tied with Malkiya on 12 points apiece, but Khaldiya have a superior goal difference. Both teams are a point ahead of defending champions Muharraq, who have a game in hand.
Khaldiya had a rousing start to yesterday’s match, played at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town. Al Rumaihi put his team in front only two minutes from kick-off.
Teammate Nizar El Otmani had won possession from Riffa’s Husain Aleker and then sent a cross in from the left. Al Rumaihi was on the receiving end and he converted with a sliding effort, narrowly beating Riffa’s Lithuanian goalkeeper Dziugas Bartkus to the ball.
Abduljabbar then doubled Khaldiya’s early advantage with a 24th-minute penalty. They were awarded their spot kick after Zahui Ulruch Fabien Winley was taken down in the box by Aleker. Following a VAR check to confirm the penalty, Abduljabbar stepped forward to take the attempt, and he coolly sent the ball in to the bottom-right corner of the net.
After the re-start, a Riffa goal scored by Tunisian striker Youssef Ben Souda in the 63rd minute was disallowed. Teammate Vinicius Vargas dos Santos challenged Khaldiya’s Ahmed Bughammar for the ball, and after gaining possession passed to a waiting Ben Souda in front of goal, and he guided it home.
But after a VAR review, the goal did not stand as it was determined that the ball had gone out of bounds during dos Santos’s challenge against Bughammar.
Riffa pressed hard to get back into the contest and had multiple chances come close, but they could not finish. They suffered their first defeat of this campaign and stayed on nine points in fourth place on the table.
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