Al Fardan heroics send Riffa into semis
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Riffa punched their tickets to the semi-finals of this year’s His Majesty the King’s Cup football tournament after a heroic performance from goalkeeper Abdulkarim Al Fardan in a 3-0 penalty shootout victory over arch-rivals Muharraq last night.
Despite both teams having numerous chances, the game remained goalless at the end of regular and extra time, sending the contest to the spot kicks.
Al Fardan then shone brightest for Riffa, saving all three of Muharraq’s attempts while his teammates did their job by converting theirs.
Komail Al Aswad, Ali Haram and Lazar Dordevic all hit the target for the victors, while Al Fardan stopped the efforts of Hassan Uqabi, Amine Hasan and Waleed Al Hayam.
Al Fardan’s save on Al Hayam’s penalty cut the shootout short and sent Riffa through to the final four.
Riffa are next set to take on Al Ahli in the semis.
Ahli also advanced yesterday with a 4-2 penalty shootout win against Al Najma after 120 minutes could not separate the two sides, who were deadlocked at 1-1.
Najma were first to find the net in regular time when Edimar Ribeiro Da Costa Junior scored in the 59th minute on a brilliant counter-attack.
Junior received a long pass from his own box and raced down the pitch to slot the ball past Ahli’s Ebrahim Luthfallah.
Ahli were then able to equalise in the 71st minute when Zakaria Al Ismaili scored from close range off a cross supplied by Vinicius Vargas Dos Santos.
That set the stage for the shootout, where Lutfhfallah had some heroics, making two crucial stops to send his side through.
Nawaf Abdulla converted the final penalty for Ahli.
This year’s His Majesty the King’s Cup’s other semi-final fixture will be between Manama and Al Hala.
Manama edged past Sitra 5-4 in a thrilling penalty shootout on Thursday night, while Hala beat Hidd 4-2, also on penalties.
Both contests remained deadlocked at 1-1 at the end of extra time. The final four has yet to be scheduled by the Bahrain Football Association.
Related Posts