FOOTBALL – Al Khaldiya climbed back to the top of the table last night in the 2025-26 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
They returned to the summit following a hard-earned 3-1 win over Sitra at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Three players were on target for the victors, including DR Congo professional Joel Beya Tumuteka, Nizar Elotmani, and Mohammed Al Rumaihi. Both Tumuteka and Al Rumaihi fired in from the penalty spot on either side of the break.
Brazilian Bruno Luiz Bezerra scored the lone consolation for Sitra.
With the result, Khaldiya leapfrogged defending champions Muharraq to first place in the standings, but hold just a two-point advantage over their chief title rivals as the season heads towards its home stretch.
Khaldiya took the lead after being awarded a penalty in the third minute of first-half stoppage time when Tumuteka was taken down in the area by Sitra’s Ibrahim Jamal Osman.
Tumuteka stepped forward to take the spot kick himself, and he coolly converted, shooting into the bottom-left corner of the net past Sitra goalkeeper Yusuf Habib.
Elotmani doubled Khaldiya’s advantage in the 81st minute with a stunning strike from nearly 30 yards out.
His rocket flew past Habib, who tried to make a leaping save.
Sitra got a goal back in the 87th minute when Bezerra fired in with a low volley after a brilliant headed pass by compatriot Kennyd Lucas Rodrigues.
But Khaldiya restored their two-goal advantage with Al Rumaihi’s 99th minute penalty that made it 3-1, after teammate Badar Bashir Abdallah was brought down in the box by Sitra’s Rayen Fourgi Touzri.
Moments prior to that, Sitra’s Abdulrahman Oumar was given his marching orders for a foul against Abdallah.
Oumar was originally shown yellow, but after a VAR review of his high boot to Abdallah’s body, the caution was rescinded and he was given a direct red card.
Earlier in the contest, Khaldiya’s Portuguese custodian Ricardo Manuel da Silva made a number of important saves – first after just six minutes in a one-on-one with Sitra skipper Yaya Al Hadj Ousman.
He then made another stop on the hour mark on a shot by Sitra’s French import Kari Kari Aristophane – again in a one-on-one.
But da Silva’s biggest contribution came in the 94th minute when Sitra were still in contention for an equaliser.
He parried away a shot by Bezerra from point-blank range, helping Khaldiya preserve their slim advantage before Al Rumaihi pegged the final score.
Khaldiya rose to 45 points with their league-best 15th victory, while Sitra stayed in the danger zone for the relegation play-offs after their eighth loss to stay on 18 points.
In last night’s other fixture at the National Stadium in Riffa, Moroccan midfielder Abdulhalim Abbou fired in a late winner for Malkiya in their 1-0 triumph over Al Shabab.
Abbou scored in the 89th minute with a stunner from just inside the box after receiving a pass from Nigerian teammate Cyril Chinedu Olisema.
Abbou’s well-hit effort flew into the top-left corner of the net, past Shabab custodian Rashed Maktoob Aldoseri.
That was enough to separate the two sides and Malkiya climbed to fourth place on the table with 27 points following their seventh victory in 18 outings.
Shabab suffered their 11th loss and stayed on just 11 points in second-to-last place.
They continue to face an automatic drop to the Bahrain First Division with just four fixtures remaining this campaign.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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