FOOTBALL – Leaders Al Ettifaq were held to a 2-2 stalemate by Manama last night while Sitra battled past A’ali 2-0 as matchweek five kicked off in the 2026-27 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.
Ettifaq battled back from a goal down and took the lead with a brace by Moroccan professional Abdelghafour Mehri.
But Ammar Jaafar provided the end-game heroics for Manama, firing in the equaliser from long range on the stroke of full time for a dramatic finish at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Sitra, meanwhile, rallied behind goals from Sayed Mahdi Sharaf and substitute Saleh Ali Alzubaidi to come away with their fine result at Al Ahli Club Stadium in Mahooz.
The league’s fifth round continues today and tomorrow with another two games each evening.
Tonight, Riffa and East Riffa face off in a derby at Khalifa Sports City Stadium, while Al Najma lock horns with Hidd at the National Stadium in Riffa.
Then, tomorrow, Ahli go up against Al Khaldiya at Khalifa Sports City Stadium while two-time defending champions Muharraq, who have been struggling so far to start this new national season, go up against Malkiya.
All four fixtures are scheduled for 7pm kick-offs.
In Ettifaq’s draw with Manama yesterday, Manama opened the scoring with a Zachary Marvin Hadji penalty in the 27th minute.
They were awarded the spot kick after Ettifaq’s Abdulla Abdulhadi Alkamel brought down Moroccan Aymane Arhihou in the area.
Hadji stepped forward and the Frenchman made no mistake with his effort, firing into the left of the net with Ettifaq’s Godwill Chia Ndang guessing the wrong way.
Ettifaq then drew level with Mehri’s first goal, also from the penalty spot, in the 39th minute.
Mohammed Abdulqayoom was taken down in the box by Arhihou, and Mehri hit the ball just enough to beat Manama’s Bosnian custodian Slavisa Bogdanovic.
After the re-start, Mehri put Ettifaq ahead in the 54th minute when he scored off a rebound from close range.
After an Abdulqayoom attempt was blocked by Bogdanovic, the ball fell directly into Mehri’s path, and he pounced to slot home from just outside the six-yard box.
Ettifaq were denied the full three points, however, with Jaafar’s late equaliser.
It was a stunning strike that flew into the bottom-right corner of the net, securing a share of the spoils for Manama.
Despite dropping points, Ettifaq remained in first place on the league standings with 10 points following their first draw so far this campaign, while Manama improved to just two points as they climbed up a spot from last place.
In yesterday’s other clash, Sharaf and Alzubaidi were both on target in the second half in Sitra’s triumph.
Sharaf was first on the scoreboard in the 63rd minute, netting home from the penalty spot after teammate and skipper Ali Haram was fouled in the area by A’ali’s Sekou Amadou Kaba.
Alzubaidi then added Sitra’s second in the third minute of second-half injury time on a two-on-one with Ibrahim Jamal Osman against A’ali goalkeeper Omar Salem.
Alzubaidi received a short pass from Osman and he chipped the ball over Salem and into the net.
Sitra won for only the second time in five games and they improved to eight points. A’ali lost for a third time and stayed on four markers in the bottom half of the table.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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