Champions Riffa wrap up season with win

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Riffa defeated Malkiya 2-1 last night to end their title-winning campaign in the 2020/2021 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League on a positive note. Ali Madan and Hazza Ali Hazza were both on target for the victors in their Week 18 clash.

Following their triumph, Riffa have presented their champions’ trophy in an awarding ceremony. Yousri Arfaoui put Malkiya ahead in the 21st minute when he fired in a rebound after Sayed Ali Radhi’s shot was saved by Riffa’s international goalkeeper Sayed Shubbar Alawi.

Malkiya’s early lead was short-lived, however, as Ali Madan equalised just seven minutes later with a header off a cross from the right by Ali Jawher Saad. The two strikes were enough for the match to head into the interval deadlocked at 1-1.

After the re-start, Hazza put Riffa ahead with his goal in the 59th minute. Star playmaker Kumail Alaswad assisted in Riffa’s attack, providing the perfect short pass for Hazza send home with a left-footed strike from inside the box. With the result, Riffa completes their 18-match scheduled with 45 points, after winning 14 times, drawing thrice and losing just once. Malkiya’s promising start to the match ended in a nightmare, as the loss, which was their ninth of the season, meaning that they are relegated to the second division.

They finished their campaign with 13 points, placing them second-to-last on the league table. Also dropping down to division two will be Busaiteen, who lost 2-3 to last year’s champions Hidd, also yesterday. The loss put Busaiteen in dead last. In other matches, Budaiya stunned East Riffa 4-1 to completely avoid relegation, while Al Najma lost 1-3 to Al Ahli, which means they will now play against a yet-to-be-determined second division opponent for a place in Bahrain’s top flight.

The fifth match of the week between Muharraq and Manama saw Muharraq take a 3-1 victory. The result was their seventh win in 18 games and they improved to 27 points for fourth place overall. Manama finished third despite the loss.

Standings

                P    W    D    L    GD    Pt

*Riffa          18   14     3   1    18     45

East Riffa     18   11     2   5    12     35

Manama       18    9     4   5     8      31

Muharraq      18   7      6   5     9      27

Hidd             18   8      3   7     3      27 

Al Ahli           18   5      6   8    -8     21

Budaiya         18   3      8   7    -8     17

**Al Najma    18   3      6   9    -14   15

***Malkiya     18   2     7    9    -15   13

***Busaiteen  18   1     9    8     -5    12