Brazilian Elias Oliviera scored in the 80th minute to take Muharraq to the quarter-finals of the Asian Federation Cup after defeating Jordanian side Al Faisaly at National Stadium in Riffa yesterday.
Muharraq had reached the round of 16 knockout stage after topping group ‘D’ while Al Faisaly came second in group ‘B’.
Muharraq’s manager Isa Al Sadoon fielded a strong lineup consisting of Abdulla Al Kaabi in goal with Waleed Al Hayam, Mohammed Matar, Ebrahim Al Meshkhas and Salef Mahmeedi in defence.
The midfield was led by veteran Mohammed Salmeen alongside Abdulla Abdo, Jamal Rashed, Abdulwahab Al Safi and Felipe Da Silva. Ismael Abdulatif was the lone striker.
Al Faisaly manager Feras Al Khalaileh played Mohammed Shatnawi as goalkeeper with Dyab Ibrahim, Youssef Raed, Salem Suleim and Yasser Al Rawashdeh in defence. His midfield consisted of Sharif Adnan, Bahaa Abdelrahman and Isam Al Mbaydin while Yaseen Bakheet, Raed Ali and Mohammed Al Refai were the strikers.
The first half saw both sides fail to score from the chances they had. However, in the second half both coaches rotated the teams around. Al Sadoon brought in Mahdi Ali to replace Salmeen in the 68th minute to strengthen his midfield.
Goalscorer Oliviera was introduced in the 79th minute replacing Abdulla Abdo. The changed proved successful as Abdulatif dribbled his way to the side of the penalty box away from Al Faisaly defenders to pass it to Oliviera who was unmarked inside the box to place the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Muharraq had a chance to widen their lead two minutes later when Abdulatif received a long ball into the but was pressured by Al Faisaly keeper Shatnawi and he missed his chance.
The Bahraini side kept the pressure up on their Jordanian opponents but failed to double their lead.
The last five minutes of the game saw Al Faisaly’s efforts go waste as substitute midfielder Maher Al Jada placed an easy ball over the crossbar.
Muharraq, who have won the competition only once, in 2008, will have a chance to do it again this year as they advance as the only Bahraini side in the competition.
The regional competition divides the continent to East and West zones leading up to the final.
Alongside the match result today, the West Zone also saw Al Ahed of Lebanon defeat Syria’s Al Wahda 4-0, Al Quqa Al Jaweya of Iraq overcome Jordan’s Al Wehdat 1-0 and Iraqi side Naft Al Wasat falling to defeat against Syrian side Al Jaish 1-0.
The East Zone results saw Ceres of the Philippines crash to defeat against Chinese side South Chine 1-0 after extra-time. Singaporean Tampines Rovers overcame India’s Mohun Bagan 2-0 while Hong Kong’s Kitchee went down to India’s Bengalaru FC 3-2. The last match saw Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia defeat Philippines’ Kaya 7-2.
The quarter finals will take place in September. The first match will be played on the 13th with the second leg taking place on the 20th. The draw is yet to be conducted.