East Riffa claim last-gasp win over Budaiya

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

East Riffa eked out a lastgasp, come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Budaiya last night to kick off week 13 in the 2022/2023 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Mohammed Duaij scored in the eighth minute of injury time to lift his side to a dramatic finish.

The linesman had originally raised his flag for an offside leading up to the winner, but after the speaking with the match referee, the goal stood, signalling the start of East Riffa’s celebrations.

Earlier in the contest, Budaiya skipper Al Tayyib bin Lutfi opened their account with a fine header off a corner kick in the 58th minute.

But East Riffa were quick to reply after Obus Prince Aggreh was taken down in the penalty box.

Saleh Ratib stepped up to take the spot kick but his shot was saved. Ratib was first to the rebound, however, and he headed it home to level the proceedings.

The match appeared to be headed to a deadlock until Duaij’s late-game heroics.

A Hussain Al Khayyat shot was stopped by the Budaiya defence, and the ball went directly into the path of Duaij, who slotted home with a low, left-footed effort.

The win was only the third for East Riffa in the league and they improved to 14 points on the standings, but remained in the bottom half.

Budaiya were unlucky in the end as they suffered their 11th loss in 13 games, and stayed in last place on the table with just two points.

League action continues today with a busy schedule of four games at separate stadiums.

At 5.50pm, Al Ahli take on Hidd and leaders Manama face off with Sitra, followed at 8.50pm by defending champions Riffa taking on Al Shabab and Muharraq locking horns with Al Khaldiya.