RIFFA, East Riffa and Al Shabab scored comfortable victories in the first-leg of the last 16 King’s Cup encounters last night while Al Hidd and Malkiya claimed a point each after a 2-2 draw.
Riffa and Al Shabab got the better of Al Ahli and Sitra 2-0 respectively while East Riffa cruised past Isa Town 3-1.
Riffa scored a goal in either half of the match at Khalifa Stadium to stay on course to winning the most prestigious and richest soccer tournament on the island.
Mohammed Mahroon put Riffa ahead in the 18th minute and Adan Fawaz sealed the match in the 64th.
In another match at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Stadium in Muharraq, Isa Town went ahead in the 43rd minute and they enjoyed that advantage well into the second-half.
But East Riffa piled on the pressure and equalized through Luiz Fernando in the 50th minute and in a matter of four minutes sealed the match through goals from Mohammed Al Rumaihi (76) and Bakr Hawsawi (80).
Advantage
Al Shabab also enjoyed territorial advantage for much of the game but could not convert it into goals as the first-half ended goalless.
Al Shabab missed a good opportunity of going ahead in the 54th minute as they missed a penalty.
But that did not deter them as they eventually went ahead in the 61st minute and 10 minutes later converted their second penalty to claim full points.
Though the Al Hidd and Malkiya match ended in a stalemate at the Khalifa Stadium, it had its share of spills and thrills as both teams enjoyed periods of dominance but in the end had to settle for a point each.
Al Hidd went ahead first in the 28th minute through Mohammed Al Alawi and they enjoyed that edge for the rest of the half and more.
But Hussain Hassan Juma equalised for Malkiya Club in the 56th minute and for good measure Isa Abdul Albari put his team ahead in the 78th.
Malkiya, however, could not carry that narrow advantage for long as Mohammed Abadalwahab found the net three minutes later for Al Hidd and the match ended on even terms.