FOOTBALL – Al Ettifaq made history last night after climbing to the top of the table in the 2026-27 Nasser Bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
Ettifaq came away with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Hidd at the National Stadium in Riffa to claim first place after only four weeks into their debut season in the kingdom’s top flight.
Mohammed Abdulqayoom was on target for last season’s Bahrain First Division champions.
He scored two minutes from the break, slotting home from inside the penalty area with a low effort after receiving a fine through-pass from teammate Hassan Mohammed Abdo.
With the result, Ettifaq registered their third win from four matches and improved to nine points on the standings – one ahead of perennial title contenders Al Khaldiya and Riffa.
Hidd suffered their second loss and stayed on four makers.
In yesterday’s other match, Al Ahli defeated Manama 3-1 at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Three players were on target for Ahli in their win. Gabriel da Silva Moyses opened their account in the 16th minute with a header from close range.
Manama then drew level in the 40th minute through Fahad Al Asmary to send the two teams deadlocked into the locker rooms.
But Hashem Sayed Issa put Ahli back in front with a penalty in the 54th minute.
Sayed Mahdi Baqer then added Ahli’s third with a 66th-minute header to peg the final score.
Ahli won for the second time and rose to seven points on the table, while handing Manama their third defeat as they remained in last place with just one point.
The fourth round of league play concludes tonight with two more games on schedule.
A’ali play East Riffa at Khalifa Sports City Stadium and Al Najma go up against Sitra at the National Stadium.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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