Manama claim tight win against Riffa

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Manama upset defending champions Riffa 1-0 last night to kick off the ninth week of play in the 2022/2023 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Mahdi Abduljabbar, the league’s top scorer from last season, fired in the game’s lone goal.

It was enough to give Manama the full three points.

Meanwhile, in another match yesterday, Al Hala and East Riffa played to a goalless draw.

The two contests were played at separate venues with different kick-off times.

In Manama’s win, Abduljabbar scored for his team in the 24th minute after Riffa failed to clear an earlier attempt.

Mohammed Al Marmour sent in a high cross from the left, which flew over the outstretched arm of Riffa goalkeeper Abdulkarim Al Fardan.

Manama’s Ahmed Ammar connected on the pass but his header hit the right post, and the rebound went into the direction of Abdulajabbar, who pounced on the loose ball and sent it into the net from just outside the six-yard box.

Just a minute prior to Manama’s goal, Riffa were denied their own following a controversial offside decision.

Komail Alaswad headed in from close range off a lobbed pass by teammate Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, but the goal was disallowed as Alaswad was declared to have been offside.

Both teams tried valiantly to add to the score line over the remainder of the contest, but neither could find the finishing touches.

With the result, Manama came away with their fourth win in nine games as they improved to 15 points on the league table.

They remained behind Riffa, however, who were handed their third loss and stayed on 16 points.

In Hala’s draw with East Riffa, the two sides could not break the deadlock and they each came away with a share of the points.

Hala improved to nine markers following their sixth stalemate, while East Riffa went to eight with their fifth draw.

Both teams have only one win so far in the bottom half of the standings.

League action continues tonight with Al Ahli taking on bottom-of-the-table Budaiya Club at 5.45pm, Hidd facing off with Al Shabab at 6pm, and then Bahrain Club going up against Sitra at 8.45pm.