Al Sherooqi scores late winner

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Ahmed Al Sherooqi fired in a stoppage-time winner to help lift Muharraq to a late 2-1 victory over Al Najma last night in a thrilling week 10 encounter in the 2023/2024 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Al Sherooqi supplied the stunner after both teams appeared to be headed for a share of the points. In another game yesterday, Manama powered past Hidd 2-0, with Facundo Agustin Tobares scoring both goals.

The 10th week of league play wraps up tonight with another two matches on schedule. Al Ahli will look to return to the top of the table when they lock horns with Al Shabab, while Riffa will see if they can challenge for the lead on the standings when they take on bottom-ranked Busaiteen.

Both fixtures are scheduled for simultaneous 7pm kick-offs. In Muharraq’s late win, Al Sherooqi was able to separate his team from Najma with the deciding strike in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time.

Following some brilliant passing that ended with Al Sherooqi unmarked on the right of penalty box, he coolly slotted the ball in from an acute angle past Najma goalkeeper Ashraf Waheed Al Sabaei. Teammate Waleed Al Kuri supplied the assist. Earlier in the contest, Sufyan Mahrouq and Edimar Ribeiro Da Costa Junior converted a goal apiece for their respective sides in the first half.

Mahrouq opened the scoring for Muharraq in the 11th minute following a corner-kick. He sent in a left-footed effort from inside the box which flew past four Najma defenders and past Al Sebaei. Their celebrations were short lived, however, as Najma would need just a few minutes to get back on level terms.

They were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute after Hamza Al Jaban brought down Da Costa Jr with a wild tackle in the area. Da Costa Jr stepped up to take the spot kick himself and calmly slotted home into the bottom-left of goal.

Neither team were able to add another goal through the remainder of regular time, which set the stage for Al Sherooqi’s end-game heroics. With the result, Muharraq rose to fourth on the table after improving to 16 points following their fourth win in 10 tries. They are behind only defending champions Al Khaldiya, Ahli and Riffa.

Najma suffered their fourth loss and stayed on 12 markers. In last night’s other game, Manama scored in just the second minute of the match when Tobares was released for a one-on-one with Hidd goalkeeper Ali Khalifa Abdulla, and he converted with a clinic shot.

Tobares then doubled their advantage in the 19th minute, scoring from the face of goal off a short cross from teammate Isa Abdulla Ghuloom. Manama went o 14 points following their fourth win, which put them in the top six, while Hidd suffered their sixth defeat as they stayed amongst the bottom three.