Riffa triumph, Ahli salvage late draw

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Riffa defeated Busaiteen to climb to the top of the table while former joint-leaders Al Ahli salvaged a late draw against Al Shabab as the 10th week of action came to a close last night in the 2023/2024 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

Riffa posted a hard-earned 1-0 win against their struggling opponents, who are last on the standings, while Ahli overcame an inspired Shabab to equalise just minutes from regular time and force a 1-1 stalemate.

Joel Vinicius was the scorer in Riffa’s triumph, while Mahdi Sharaf and Alyson Romeu Dantas De Andrade were both on target for their respective teams in the Ahli-Shabab affair. Vinicius found the net for Riffa in the 70th minute with a header.

He scored following a long cross from the right wing and his lone goal was enough to separate the two sides. Riffa claimed their sixth win in nine matches and they improved to 19 points for first place on the league table. Busaiteen suffered their fifth loss in 10 outings and remained at the very bottom of the standings with seven points.

They have just one victory so far this season. Due to their match schedule in the ongoing AFC Cup continental tournament, Riffa have played one game less than former joint-leaders Al Khaldiya and Ahli.

Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other game, Ahli headed into the match aiming to regain their position as solo leaders, but Busaiten had other plans and put on a valiant performance despite their recent shortcomings. De Andrade put Shabab in front five minutes after the hour-mark, heading in off a long cross from the left supplied by teammate Carlos Alberto Gulmaraes Filho.

He rose above the Ahli defence and made no mistake with his conversion. But as it appeared as though Ahli were headed for defeat, Sharaf came up with his stunning heroics with a sensational rocket in the 87th minute from nearly 30 yards out. Sharaf’s powerfully hit strike flew past Shabab’s diving goalkeeper Hamad Al Doseri, hit the left post and bounced into the net.

That brought Ahli back on level terms and earned them the crucial share of the points. Ahli were able to come away with their third stalemate in 10 games and went to 18 points—just a single point behind Riffa. Shabab also had their third draw but are well behind their opponents on the table, improving to nine points as part of the bottom three.