RED-HOT Muharraq rose to the top of the Bahrain Premier League standings following a 4-1 victory over Al Najma last night at the Shaikh Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
A resounding first half in which veteran Bahraini striker Hussain Ali and Nigerian professional Osheh scored two goals apiece helped seal the big win for the victors.
It was their sixth successive triumph in league play and by taking the full three points, improved to a total of 26 from 11 matches to claim the number one spot on the table for the first time this season.
Muharraq leap-frogged former leaders Busaiteen to the summit, but hold just a slim one-point advantage over their closest rivals.
Najma suffered their fourth loss in the league and their third in four matches. They remained in the bottom half of the rankings with 12 points from 11 games.
Meanwhile, Al Hidd maintained their hold on third place overall with a fine 2-0 win over Al Hala in yesterday’s other game.
Bahraini talent Abdulla Hazzaa fired in a powerful left-footed rocket from just outside the penalty box after just four minutes in the contest, and then Nigerian forward Hafez Abdulsalam slotted home in the 81st minute to peg the final score.
Hidd’s victory was their seventh in league play and they improved to 22 points trailing Muharraq and Busaiteen.
Hala, on the other hand, suffered their fifth loss and they stayed on 12 points from 11 matches on the table.
In Muharraq’s victory last night, Ali, more popularly known as “Pele” amongst the Bahraini football community, gifted his team a bright start as he found the net in just the second minute of play.
Osheh then doubled their advantage with his first goal at the quarter-hour mark, and then Ali connected on a third for Muharraq 10 minutes on.
The early goal barrage had caught Najma off guard and they tried valiantly to hold off the Muharraq attack. But they were just too good and Osheh found the net once more, making it 4-0 five minutes before the half-time break, giving Muharraq a commanding advantage heading into the locker rooms.
Najma attempted to dig themselves out of the huge hole they were in, and managed to get a goal back seven minutes after the re-start. But that was as close as they would get and neither team could add to their accounts in the game’s final half-hour.
The league now takes a few weeks’ break to make way for other regional and continental competitions. Action resumes on March 30 with Al Hidd taking on relegation-threatened Al Shabab and Busaiteen facing off with Bahrain Club, who are also in danger of being demoted into the second division.