Luthfallah heroics send Ahli into HM the King’s Cup final

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Al Ahli barged through to the final of this year’s His Majesty the King’s Cup football tournament following a thrilling 4-1 penalty shootout victory over league champions Riffa last night at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.

Goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah was the hero for Ahli in the shootout, saving two of Riffa’s spot kicks and then converting the clincher.

Komail Al Aswad and Abdulla Al Hashash each had a brace for their respective sides in regular time, and the score remained deadlocked at 2-2 after extra-time.

Ahli now head to the title-deciding match where they will face off with Al Hala, who defeated Manama 2-1 in extra-time in the other semi-final played on Monday.

The final has yet to be scheduled by the Bahrain Football Association.

In the shootout, Luthfallah helped Ahli take a commanding 3-0 lead after saving the shots of Al Aswad and Ali Haram, while teammates Jamal Rashid, Vinicius Vargas Dos Santos and Abbas Ayyad all scored.

Lazar Dordevic then gave Riffa a lifeline at 1-3, but then Luthfallah closed the match out with his winning goal against Riffa’s Abdulkarim Al Fardan.

Earlier, Al Aswad put Riffa ahead on the stroke of half-time after teammate Amin Fareed Al Shanaina was taken down in the box by Ahli’s Baqer Mohammed Al Asfoor.

Al Aswad stepped up to take the spot kick against Luthfallah, and he made no mistake with his effort, which he sent into the bottom-left corner of goal.

That was enough to send Riffa into the half with the single-goal advantage.

After the re-start, it didn’t take long for Ahli to level the scores as Al Hashash found the net just 12 minutes in.

Al Hashash hit a short stab from the face of goal after a cross supplied by Hassan Madan from the left went unclaimed by Ahli teammate Marcolino Neto Silva in the area.

The ball rolled towards goal and Al Hashash was at the right place at the right time, needing only to tap the ball into the net.

That set the stage for Al Aswad’s second, which was a low effort from just outside the six-yard box off a pass from Al Shanaina.

It was a poorly hit shot but Al Aswad did enough to send the ball into the bottom-left corner.

Al Hashash then made it 2-2 for Ahli two minutes from the end of regulation, scoring following a scramble in the box off a rebound, after his first effort was stopped by Riffa’s Al Fardan.