A late goal by Mahdi Jaffar propelled Riffa to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Sitra in a Nasser Bin Hamad Premier League match at the Muharraq Stadium last night.
Sprinting into the Sitra box in the 87th minute after teammate Amine Mohammed had fired the ball towards the goal from just outside the penalty area only for goalkeeper Godwill Chia Ndang to parry it off, Jaffar sprang high to match the bounce off the ball from the rebound and headed it past Ndang, still sprawled on the ground, and into the net.
With just three minutes left till the end of regulation time, Sitra began to control the ball again – just as they had for the majority of the match, but without any luck – to no avail as the game ticked into four minutes of injury time.
Soon, it was all over and Riffa, who had been sixth in the 12-team table with 27 points before the game, are now fifth in the standings with 30 points, behind leaders Manama with 34 points, Khaldiya with 32 points, Sitra, who remain on 31 points because of the loss, and Muharraq, who also have 30 points but are in fourth place because of goal difference.
Earlier, Sitra, who were on 31 points before the game and needed a win to draw level with Manama, looked like they were on course to get those crucial three points as they dominated the first half – but without managing to convert any of the half-chances they created.
Their first real opportunity came in the 38th minute when a corner kick from the right by Mashal Mohammed Hameed was headed over the crossbar by Gustavo Felipe De Campos.
After the two sides had headed into the change rooms at half-time with the scoreboard reading 0-0, Sitra saw another chance go begging when Usman Hasan headed the ball over the goal.
Just five minutes later, another corner kick by Hameed was headed by De Campos straight to Riffa goalkeeper Mahmood Abdulghani.
In the 57th minute, Riffa finally looked like they were about to score but captain Komail Alaswad’s left-footed kick sent the ball curling over the crossbar.
Eighteen minutes later, Sitra’s Barfo Ernest made his bench cheer loudly as he dribbled past three Riffa defenders into the box but his shot at goal was thwarted by Abdulghani.
Just two minutes later, Ernest was in action again after Hameed sent the ball skidding towards him down the left.
The midfielder took the ball into the Riffa box and, when he came face-to-face with Abdulghani, flicked the ball back towards an oncoming Motsem Askander who sent the ball flying toward an open goal only to see two defenders somehow manage to stop it from crossing the goal-line.
Buoyed by that lucky escape, Riffa began to believe that the night might just end in their favour and, after Alaswad missed the chance to score off a free kick in the 85th minute, it took only two more minutes for Jaffar to put his team ahead with what effectively turned out to be the winner.
Meanwhile, in the other Premier League game last night, East Riffa held Khaldiya to a 1-1 draw.
&uuid=(email))