FOOTBALL – Al Khaldiya lifted the 2023-24 Bahrain Super Cup in football last night.
The reigning back-to-back national league champions clinched the trophy following a 2-0 victory over Al Hala at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Bahrain national team forward Mahdi Abduljabbar and Omani teammate Salaah Al Yahyaei were both on target for the victors within the last quarter-hour of regular time.
The Bahrain Super Cup is the traditional opening fixture of the national football season. Yesterday’s game was supposed to be held at the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, but was put off.
Abduljabbar put his team ahead in the 74th minute after tapping in from close range off a cross supplied by Iraqi Dhurgham Ismael. Al Yahyaei then supplied Khaldiya’s other goal in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Following the contest, the winners were presented their trophy by Bahrain Football Association vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa during the awarding ceremony. Khaldiya officials were also on hand to receive their accolades alongside the players and team staff.
Mahdi Humaidan had early chances to put Khaldiya in front but was narrowly off the mark. Hala’s Abdulmalek Bendalal and Hamza Attar also had opportunities but could not apply the finishing touches, sending the two teams into the interval goalless.
With the match headed into its closing stages, Khaldiya finally broke through when Abduljabbar found the net assisted by Ismael. Abduljabbar was on the receiving end of a short cross inside the six-yard box, and he made no mistake with his single touch, sending the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net.
Hala tried to fight back but Al Yahyaei put the game away in the 94th minute. Gleison Wilson Da Silva Moreira slotted through a fine pass to Al Yahyaei who was charging into the box, and with his second touch fired home to the right of goal.
Khaldiya earned their spot in the contest as the champions of the 2022-23 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League, while Hala claimed their place as the winners of the season’s HM the King’s Cup.
The result earned Khaldiya their second successive Bahrain Super Cup title, after also taking the 2022-23 trophy held in September of 2022 after defeating Riffa 3-2.
Meanwhile, Khaldiya will next return to the pitch in mid-week for their opening fixture in the all-new Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Two.
The kingdom’s representatives are in Group B of the second-tier AFC competition alongside Al Taawoun FC of Saudi Arabia, Air Force SC of Iraq, and Altyn Asyr FC of Turkmenistan.
Their first game sees them host Taawoun at the National Stadium in Riffa on Wednesday. The match is scheduled for a 7pm kick-off.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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