FOOTBALL – East Riffa held Muharraq to a 2-2 draw at the Bahrain National Stadium to move into joint-second place with defending champions Khaldiya in the 2023-24 Nasser bin Hamad Premier League table while Sitra defeated Al Hala, 1-0, in the other fixture at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium last night to move to joint-sixth and leave the 12-team table very interestingly poised.
East Riffa, who had entered the game with 13 points from eight games – the same as Riffa, who lost 2-1 to table leaders, Al Ahli (17 points from nine games) on Sunday night, but have played two less matches – would have leapfrogged over Khaldiya, who have 14 points from nine games, to be just one point behind Al Ahli with 16 points.
Instead, they now have the same tally as Khaldiya in the same number of matches while Muharraq, who would have also gone past the defending champions had they won, are now level with Riffa on 13 points from nine matches, and joint-fourth.
Meanwhile, Sitra, who had nine points before last night’s victory, now have 12 points from eight games – the same as Al Hala (from nine matches) and Al Najma (from eight games), who could conceivably bounce ahead of Muharraq, Riffa, Khaldiya and East Riffa, if they manage to defeat Manama (eight points from eight games) at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium tonight.
Should Manama win, however, they would see their tally rise to 11 points, meaning they would be just one point behind Sitra, Al Hala and Al Najma, making the next round of matches starting from December 23 even more crucial for all the teams in the top half of the table.
Tonight’s matches (kick-off 7pm):
Al Najma vs Manama (Khalifa Sports City Stadium); Al Hidd vs Busaiteen (Bahrain National Stadium)
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