Al Khaldiya held by Hidd

TDT | Manama                                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Defending champions Al Khaldiya were held to a 1-1 draw by Hidd last night in their week seven match of the 2023/2024 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

On target for Khaldiya was Dominique Mendy, while scoring for Hidd was Jacques Medina Iemopele. Both goals were converted in the first half.

Khaldiya opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Mendy headed home off a corner kick supplied by teammate Mahdi Humaidan.

Mendy rose above the Hidd defenders and sent the ball into the net from close range. Hidd equalised in 33rd minute with a penalty.

Hidd’s Obus Prince Aggreh was taken down in the box by Ali Abdullah, earning them the spot kick. Iemopele made no mistake with his penalty, with Khaldiya goalkeeper Mohammed Al Gharalbi diving the wrong way.

Mahdi Abduljabbar had a goal on the stroke of half-time disallowed for being off-side.

Neither team could then add to the score line after the break, despite their best efforts and even after eight minutes of second-half stoppage time.

With the result, Khaldiya improved to 13 points following their fourth draw in seven games.

They went to the top of the league standings on goal difference, being tied on points with East Riffa.

Hidd, on the other hand, posted their first draw and went to seven points in the bottom-half of the table.

Meanwhile, Muharraq edged past Al Hala 2-1 in last night’s other league fixture.

Muharraq opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when Soufian Lamela slotted home from close range after receiving a short pass from the right of the box.

Hala equalised in the 76th minute when Daniel Asante fired home from inside the area after some porous Muharraq defence, but the victors were then able to eke out the result when they were awarded a penalty in the 86th minute.

Ahmed Al Sherooqi stepped forward to take the spot kick and he scored with a powerful shot into the top-left corner of the net.

Muharraq came away with only their second win in seven matches as they improved to nine points, while Hala suffered their fourth defeat and also stayed on nine markers.

Muharraq ranked higher on the standings on goal difference.