FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S superstar goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah made two game-saving stops on a pair of injury-time penalties last night to help defending champions Muharraq come away with a thrilling 1-1 stalemate against long-time rivals Riffa in the 2025-26 Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
The contest, dubbed as an ‘El Clasico’ by the kingdom’s football fans, kicked off the fifth week of action this season, and it was played at a packed Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Luthfallah’s end-game heroics came as Riffa appeared headed towards a last-gasp victory. They were first awarded a penalty in the 95th minute when Tunisian professional Youssef Ben Souda was brought down in the box by Muharraq defender Ahmed Khalid Rabeea. Ben Souda stepped forward to take the spot kick himself, but Luthfallah made a stunning save with his left foot.
Muharraq’s celebrations were short lived, however, after it was deemed that Luthfallah had come off his line before the penalty was taken, resulting in another attempt for Riffa. This time, it was Brazilian Rodrigo Yuri Pires Franca who took on the task, but his cheeky 103rd-minute effort was brilliantly kept out by Luthfallah with both hands as he dove to his left.
The Bahraini international and fan-favourite thus helped Muharraq come away with a share of the points as both teams remained undefeated so far this campaign. Earlier in match, first-half goals from league top scorer Edimar Ribeiro da Costa Junior and Sayed Mahmoud Al Mosawi put both teams on the scoreboard.
Da Costa Junior fired in a penalty in the 25th minute after Riffa’s Brazilian defender Samuel Conceicao Toscas took down Muharraq’s Soufiane Saeed Mahrouk in the penalty area. Da Costa Junior sent the ball to the bottom-left corner of goal, despite Riffa’s Lithuanian custodian Dziugas Bartkus guessing the right way. It was da Costa Junior’s Bahrain-best sixth goal of the season for the table-toppers.
Riffa came close to equalising just two minutes later but an attempt from the face of goal by French import Birahima Tandia off a cross delivered by Toscas narrowly missed its mark. Riffa then got back on level terms seven minutes on when Al Mosawi headed in from close range off a corner kick delivered by Wellington Moreira.
After the re-start, Mahrouk came close in the 62nd minute following a pass from Brazilian teammate Lucas Morelatto da Cruz, and then in the 71st minute, Bahrain national team defender Waleed Al Hayyam made a crucial clearance on the goal line after Riffa’s Vinicius Vargas dos Santos hit a volley past Luthfallah. Three minutes later, a da Costa Junior goal was disallowed for an offside violation. That set the stage for the exciting closing minutes in second-half stoppage time and Luthfallah’s tremendous stops.
With the result, Muharraq improved to 11 points while Riffa went to nine as they remained as the top two on the table. In last night’s other match played at the Late Shaikh Ali Bin Mohammed Bin Isa Al Khalifa Stadium in Arad, Al Khaldiya outclassed Bahrain Club 4-0.
Four different players were on target for the victors. Ayoub El Amloud from Mali put his team ahead in the 29th minute after guiding in an off-target Mohammed Adel volley. Then, just two minutes after the interval, Joel Beya Tumuteka from Congo headed in a cross from Moroccan teammate Saif-Eddine Bouhra. Mohammed Al Rumaihi later added a third four minutes from regular time, and then Bouhra applied the nail in the coffin two minutes later to complete the rout.
Khaldiya improved to nine points to go behind Muharraq and Riffa on the standings while Bahrain Club remained on zero in last place.
League action continues today and tomorrow with another two fixtures each evening. Tonight, Sitra take on Budaiya at 4.35pm while Al Najma clash with Hidd at 7pm. Tomorrow, Malkiya and A’ali face off while Al Shabab take on Al Ahli, both at 7pm.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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