Riffa, Najma play to opening week draw

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Riffa and Al Najma played to a 2-2 stalemate last night while Al Hala edged past Busaiteen 1-0 as week one continued in the new season of the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

In yesterday’s draw, Najma opened the scoring in the 35th minute through Edimar Ribeiro Da Costa.

Miscommunication on a back pass from Riffa’s Komail Al Aswad to Jassim Al Shaikh gave Da Costa possession and he took full advantage, rounding the Riffa goalkeeper and needing only to tap the ball into an empty net.

Riffa equalised in the 50th minute with a header from close range by Majid Attar, but then in the 63rd, Najma’s Issa Moussa put his team back ahead with a brilliant curling free-kick that flew past the Riffa wall and into the top-right corner of goal.

Riffa equalised once more with Vinicius Vargas Dos Santos scoring in the 66th minute off a strike that took a deflection. Meanwhile, in Hala’s victory, Mohammed Salem fired in the game’s lone goal in the 44th minute.

He scored with a low effort from a few metres outside the penalty box. With yesterday’s results, Hala joined Muharraq and Manama as winners from the first week of action in the 2023/2024 campaign.

Muharraq had beaten Hidd 2-1 while Manama outclassed Al Shabab 2-0.

Week one concludes tonight with another two games on the cards.

Defending champions Al Khaldiya go up against Sitra, while Al Ahli take on East Riffa at a separate venue.

Both games are scheduled for 7pm kick-offs.

Khaldiya were crowned champions of the 2022/2023 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League last May.

They secured their first-ever league title following one of the closest races for the title in recent league history, with Khaldiya finishing just four points clear of the fifth-placed team.