Riffa held by Hidd in thriller
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Champions Riffa escaped with a 2-2 draw against relegation-threatened Hidd last night in week 13 of the 2021/2022 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
Hidd took the lead early in the second half but Riffa was able to level the proceedings for the second time in the contest with less than 10 minutes to go—salvaging the stalemate.
Komail Alaswad scored the equaliser from the penalty spot.
Fellow-Bahrain international Mohammed Jassim Marhoon had earlier given Riffa the lead in the match, but then back-to-back goals from Brazilian professional Everton De Mendonca put Hidd in front on the hour-mark.
With the result, Riffa dropped points for the second straight game but they stayed atop the league table with 31 points.
Hidd improved to nine points but remained in the bottom three of the standings.
Riffa opened their account in the 12th minute through Marhoon, who received a brilliant lob pass from near the half-field line from Alaswad.
The assist was brilliantly placed and all Marhoon needed to do was tap the ball over Hidd goalkeeper Abbas Ahmed with his second touch.
But Hidd were able to equalise early in the second half after being awarded a penalty when Ali Abdulla Ali was brought down in the box by Riffa goalkeeper Abdulla Efrih.
De Mendonca stepped forward to take the spot-kick, and he made no mistake with his effort, which he sent to the bottom-right corner of the net.
Hidd then took a stunning lead against the champions in the 60th minute with some porous Riffa defending.
De Mendonca took advantage and scored from close range off a cross from the right-wing supplied by Ali.
But then Riffa was able to equalise after their penalty was awarded in the 80th minute, following an Abubakar Yakubu foul on Alaswad in the area.
Alaswad took the penalty himself and sent a powerful shot to the top-right corner.
Meanwhile, current second-placers Manama kept the pressure upon the leaders with a 3-1 win over Al Ahli.
Mahdi Abduljabbar registered a brace for the victors.
He opened the scoring in the eighth minute from the penalty spot and then added his other goal in the 23rd.
That gave Manama a comfortable advantage at the break.
Marcelo Augusto lifted Ahli’s spirits with a goal in the 68th minute, but Mohammed Yahya Al Hallaq put the game away in the 86th to ensure Manama’s seventh win.
They improved to 26 points on the league table and are now just five behind Riffa.
Ahli suffered their fourth loss and stayed on 15 markers in the bottom half of the standings.
Also victorious were Budaiya, who stunned East Riffa 2-0.
Both Budaiya’s goals were scored in the first half with Sultan Mansour Al Salatna finding the net in the 25th minute before Mohammed Khaled doubling their lead eight minutes later.
Budaiya headed into the match as the bottom-placed squad, but they temporarily rose to ninth for the night with only their second win in 13 tries.
They went to eight points while East Riffa stayed on 21 in fourth.
Related Posts