Club Valencia breezed through a 2-0 victory over TC Sports Club on Tuesday in the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League (DDPL), beating Da Grande Sports Club to the second position on the point-table based on goal difference as both teams are currently tied with 15 points each.
Valencia claimed a 2-0 victory of TC Sports on Tuesday evening's DDPL game, starting the match off with aggressive attacks against the TC goal. Valencia's Ali Ashfaq (Dhagandey) and Ali Fasir (Sentey) led the charge early on, which was followed by Valencia's defenders having to thwart a good shot at scoring by TC's foreign forward Malcolm Cornelius.
During the second half of the match, team Valencia improved their game significantly, breaking into the lead with a goal by Sentey in the 57th minute. Valencia's Antonio scored a shot on goal in the 72nd minute, which bounced off the TC goal post. In the 82nd minute, Sentey was once again able to create an opportunity to score, but he was unable to extend Valencia's lead by turning the shot into a goal.
Valencia were able to score once more with only five minutes left on the clock, as Ahmed Imaz (Aakko), who came on as a substitute, was able to land the shot that won Valencia their second goal of the match.
Valencia's coach Ahmed Athif (Aathee), who is currently in quarantine, had not been present at Tuesday's match. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Valencia's Assistant Coach Hussain Ibrahim said that the team had aimed to score three points with a win from the match, and that it was satisfying to see that goal reached.
Tuesday's match against Valencia was the first game TC played under the instruction of Mohamed Nizam (Nizambe), who returned as the club's head coach last week. Following TC's defeat in the match, Nizambe said that he was happy with the player's performance despite them being unable to secure a win, He further added that TC would be working to improve their okay in the matches to come.
With Valencia's 2-0 win over TC in Tuesday's match, the club has moved up to the second position on the DDPL table with 15 points from nine matches played. TC Sports Club is currently in the fifth position on the league table with nine points from nine matches played.
Maziya Vs. Da Grande
Maziya Sports and Recreation dominated Da Grande Sports Club on Tuesday night in the DDPL, closing out the match with an easy 5-0 win against Da Grande and extending their lead on the top spot of the table by six points.
Maziya were in top-form at the match against Da Grande, scoring three of their five goals within the first half of the game. Forward Hamza Mohamed (Hampu) scored Maziya's first goal for them in the 9th minute of the match, followed by Ibrahim Mahdhy Hussain (Feydhoo Ibbe) making two attempts at extending the lead.
Foreign forward Cornelius Stewart (Corney) scored Maziya's second goal in the 32nd minute of the match, with Hampu extending Maziya's lead to three goals just seven minutes after that. Hampu made the shot outside of the TC penalty area, with Da Grande goalkeaper Iyan Abdul Aleem making a defending mistake which resulted in Maziya's third goal.
Maziya continued to exhibit great performance in the second half of the match, with Corney missing an opportunity to score for the team in the 54th minute. However, Maziya's midfielder Hussain Nihan came up to score them their fourth goal of the game three short minutes after the miss. Corney went on to score Maziya their fifth and final goal from a pass by Feydhoo Ibbe in the 68th minute of the match.
With this win, Maziya Sports and Recreation retain their position as the DDPL's top team, positioned in the first spot on the league table with 21 points from nine matches played. Valencia is in the second position, followed by Da Grande in third, with both teams having earned 15 points from nine matches played.