Ali Thameem
Odi Sports Club have been defeated by Club Eagles in last night’s game of Dhivehi Premier League.
This was just the third time in twelve games that the debutants have dropped points. Their only defeat before last night had been against Maziya Sports and Recreation.
Zain Zafar was the one to break open the Odi goal, with Ibrahim Mahudhee setting him up to score in the 31st minute.
Eagles scored a second goal in the 66th minute with the involvement of Zain Zafar once again. In the build-up, Zain had made a long dribble from the halfway line and made a one-two with Ibrahim Mahudhee before taking a low cross from the left flank to the near post for Ibrahim Lebe to flick in.
Besides the two mid-season fixtures against Victory Sports Club – one of which was a draw and the other a defeat – Eagles have had an upward trajectory in performance ever since the arrival of their head coach, Abdhullah Haneef (Benjo).
Interestingly, Club Eagles have proven to be a recurring problem for Odi – the boys in black managed to hold them from winning in both their head-to-head games of the season. The reverse fixture saw a goalless draw.
In other words, two of the three times Odi dropped points, were in fixtures against Eagles. Odi with their high-scoring performances (32 goals in eleven games) have also failed to score against Eagles for the second time.
Tonight’s game between New Radiant and Buru SC will be a battle to capitalize on the slip by Odi – the winner will come within five points to Odi SC. Odi has 28 points, while both New Radiant and Buru are at 20 points.
