FOOTBALL – East Riffa and Al Najma claimed hard-earned victories last night as matchweek four came to a close in the 2026-27 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
Abdulla Al Hashash headed in the winning goal in the 90th minute to help lift East Riffa to a 2-1 victory against A’ali at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Najma, meanwhile, were on target on either side of the break in a 2-0 triumph against 10-man Sitra at Al Ahli Club Stadium in Mahooz.
East Riffa opened their account in the 24th minute against A’ali when Saud Mohsen headed in from inside the area off a pass from skipper Khaled Ali Alsamhari.
Mohsen’s effort bounced into the net off the right post after beating A’ali custodian Omar Salem.
A’ali had a chance to draw level 10 minutes later when Jassim Khelaif was brought down in the box by East Riffa’s Saad Attar, but Robson da Silva could not convert his penalty which he hit well over the crossbar.
A’ali continued to press, however, and their persistence was rewarded when Hassan Omar equalised in the 68th minute following a brilliant through-ball from teammate Diego Cardoso Nogueira.
The assist put Omar right in the face of goal and he simply needed to slot the ball home.
But the game was decided in the closing stages when Al Hashash netted the clincher from close range. He headed in off a loose ball after the A’ali defence failed to clear a set piece sent in from distance.
With the result, East Riffa claimed their second win in four outings and improved to seven points for a place in the top half of the 12-team table.
They handed A’ali their second defeat as they remained on four points.
In Najma’s victory, they secured the full three points with goals from their Brazilian pairing of Jean Sales Freire and Daniel de Oliveira de Sousa.
Najma’s Freire and Sitra’s Saleh Al Zubaidi vie for the ball
Najma appeared to have taken the lead after only six minutes but the goal of Rickson Barbosa da Conceicao was disallowed due to an offside infraction.
But Freire was not to be denied when he fired in from an acute angle in the 42nd minute after brilliantly creating space for himself against the tight defending of Sitra’s Khalil Ibrahim Soma.
De Sousa later doubled Najma’s advantage in the 78th minute with a stunning, left-footed rocket from around 30 yards out that gave Sitra’s Hamad Al Dosari no chance.
Prior to de Sousa’s strike, Sitra went down a man when Ali Khalil Ebrahim was given his marching orders after taking down Najma’s Carlos Alberto Gulmaraes Filho as he charged towards goal as the last man. Following a VAR review for the 63rd minute foul, Ebrahim was shown a straight red card.
Najma claimed their second win as they rose to six points on the standings, while Sitra lost for the first time and remained on five markers.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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