Al Khaldiya take control in title race

TDT | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Al Khaldiya moved into the driver’s seat in the thrilling race for the coveted title in the 2022/2023 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Khaldiya leapfrogged longtime leaders Manama to first place on the standings with just one match week remaining after routing lowly Budaiya 6-0, while Manama dropped points after being held to a 1-1 stalemate by 10-man East Riffa.

Khaldiya headed into yesterday’s week 21 fixtures just a single point behind Manama, but with their big victory, have turned the tables and are now one ahead of their rivals. Also last night, Sitra fell out of title contention after losing 1-3 to Bahrain Club.

Sitra thus dropped four points behind Khaldiya on the rankings. The league now heads into its final week of action, with only Khaldiya and Manama still with a chance at clinching the crown. Following last night’s results, having their title hopes end along with Sitra were Muharraq and last year’s champions Riffa.

In Khaldiya’s big win, Mahdi Humaidan had a superb hattrick to spearhead his team. Samy Frioui opened their account in the 24th minute after scoring from close range, having taken advantage of poor Budaiya defending.

Ayman Al Harzi had a poorly hit pass to Frioui but he beat the opposing defenders to the ball and struck home. Ismaeel Abdullatif then doubled Khaldiya’s lead in the 34th minute with a brilliant low strike from a few metres outside the box.

Humaidan then scored his first in the 41st minute off a fine assist supplied by Dominique Mendy. In the second half, Humaidan made it 4-0 in the 68th minute following a fantastic troughpass by Zahir Al Aghbari.

Humaidan hit home with a turning, left-footed strike from near the penalty spot. Al Aghbari then scored in the 72nd minute with a fine left-footed effort to make it 5-0. Humaidan applied the final nail in the coffin and completed his hat-trick four minutes from full time with a fine shot from inside the penalty area off another assist by Al Aghbari.

Khaldiya claimed their 12th win and improved to 41 points with just one match to play, while Budaiya suffered their 18th loss. In Manama’s draw, Mohammed Al Hallaq put them ahead in the 30th minute with a strike from inside the box off a long pass from beyond the half-pitch line.

But East Riffa struck back in the 61st minute through Jassim Khelaif, who put on a show of brilliant individual skill. He received a pass and controlled the ball with his first touch before sending it home with a header in one fluid motion.

Manama posted their seventh draw and went to 40 points, while East Riffa claimed their ninth deadlock and went to 21 points, earning them a crucial improvement on the standings in the hopes of avoiding a relegation play-off.

In Bahrain Club’s win, Ebrahim Abdulla Khudair scored for the victors in the 28th minute and then Joel Vinicius Silva Dos Anjos headed in their second three minutes from the half. Sitra got a goal back in the second half but Abdulrahman Yousef Salem fired in a penalty in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to seal the win.

Bahrain Club improved to 18 points with only their fourth victory and are looking to avoid relegation, while Sitra stayed on 37 points following their fourth loss.