DDPL: Valencia climbs to top of table while TC, UV game ends in a draw

Club Valencia has climbed to the top of the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League with a win on Monday.

The team won against Club Eagles with a 2-0 score.

Despite Eagles’ showing a strong performance at the start of the game, Valencia took the lead at the 17th minute with a successful penalty kick by captain Ali ‘Dhagandey’ Ashfaq. The team was awarded the kick following a foul inside the penalty area.

Valencia continued its attacks towards the Eagles’ goal for the remainder of the first half, but was blocked by the goalkeeper and defenders.

Eagles faced some bad lack towards the end of the half, with their star forward Ahmed ‘Rizey’ Rizwan benched following a blow to the knee. While Rizwan missed the first two matches of the league due to an injury from the FA Charity Shield match held back in December to launch the football season, their coach had noted that Rizwan’s absence is noticed during the games.

Both teams had multiple goal opportunities during the second half, and Club Valencia finally succeeded in widening the lead during the past 10 minutes of the game after being awarded its second penalty kick of match, which was taken by Ali 'Sentey' Fasir.

The pressure of two goal lead was evident from Club Eagles’ players, with forward Mohamed Naeem being sent off the field with just three minutes left after being shown two yellow cards and a red card.

Speaking to the press after the match, Valencia’s coach Mohamed Athif complimented Eagles’ on their game and stressed that this was a difficult one for his players.

While an agreement between the clubs and the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) forbids them from criticizing match referees, Eagles’ Mohamed Shiyaz declined to comment on the game after referring to this.

TC VS United Victory

TC Sports Club and United Victory's match ended 1-1. Photo FAM

The second match of the day, and last match of week four, between TC Sports Club and United Victory (UV) ended un a 1-1 draw.

Both teams failed to score during the first half of the game, but had multiple opportunities.

Shortly after the start of the second half, UV took the lead with a goal by Kyrgyzstani defender Marat Adzhiniyazov at the 59th minute.

TC increased its attacks towards the UV goal after this, but only was able to equalize the game during additional time with a goal by defender Mohamed Ajfan following a freekick taken by Ibrahim Abdul Waheed.

Speaking afterwards, TC’s coach Mohamed Shazly said that he was happy to have earned a point despite having aimed for three points in the match. He also praised the players on their performance.

UV’s coach Mohamed Adam said that they lost the lead due to injuries to two defenders towards the end of the game, adding that it was sheer luck that they were able to maintain the point even.

While this concludes the fourth week of the Dhivehi Premier League, with Monday’s win, Club Valencia is now on top of the league table with 10 points. TC Sports is in fifth place of the league table with five points while UV is in second to last spot with just two points. UV's draw against TC Sports pushed Club Eagles to the bottom of the table, having earned just one point in four games.