Hussain Niyaz netted a stoppage-time equalizer for Maziya as they claimed a difficult point against Thinadhoo as both sides played out to a 1-1 draw in the ongoing Ooredoo Dhivehi Premier League.
Both Maziya and Thinadhoo came into this game with some changes to their lineup, Asadhulla Abdulla was a notable absentee for the green boys as he missed out after injuring his knee in their last game while Ansar Ibrahim, Alain Pecharroman and Jorge Rodriguez were all missing for Thinadhoo.
Thinadhoo had plenty of chances of their own in the opening 30 minutes as both Jose Avila and Ahmed Rizuwan tested Maziya’s defence before Milos Kovacevic delivered a dangerous free-kick onto Thinadhoo’s penalty area forcing a decent save from keeper Ruslan.
Then on 38 minutes, the best chance of the half fell to Thinadhoo defender Ahmed Numaan just inside the box but his thunderous shot went wide from left side.
Two minutes later, Keric Andrej tried his luck from the distance but his shot went over the bar before Rizuwan delivered a dangerous free-kick from outside the box which Thinadhoo players failed to connect with it as it went across the face of the goal.
Thinadhoo continued to threaten after the break, with Hussain Niyaz firing his shot straight at Maziya keeper Mahmoud Al Youssef and Ibrahim Mubeen dragging his shot wide from outside the box before Rizuwan forced Mahmoud into saves with two decent strikes from inside the box moments later.
Maziya tried to come back in the game, second half substitute Hussain Niyaz headed wide from inside the box after receiving a cross from another substitute Ahmed Imaz.
Then on 70 minutes, Mohamed Umair had another decent chance for Maziya as he forced a fine save from Thinadhoo keeper Ruslan with a free-kick from outside the box.
Ahmed Niyaz finally broke the deadlock with a brilliant volley from inside the box after receiving a decent ball from Rizuwan. He found the left-bottom-corner of the net with 8 minutes from time.
In the 87th minute, Thinadhoo missed a wonderful opportunity to double their lead as Jose Avila’s decent strike from outside the box was tipped onto the cross bar by Mahmoud. Keeping his side in the contest.
And that save proved to be crucial as Maziya snatched a late equalizer in the stoppage-time through a stunning header by Hussain Niyaz from a cross by Qasim Samaam with the help of poor defending from Thinadhoo keeper Ruslan as the latter was out of position when the header flew off the cross bar onto the back of the net.
It was a bitter blow for a Thinadhoo side who had defended so resiliently and created good goal scoring chances as well, but they held for a point and stay in fifth place in the standings with 4 points from 4 games.
Meanwhile, Maziya are still at the top of the table with 10 points from 4 games, three ahead of TC Sports Club on second place but their lead could be cut to just one point if both New Radiant and Club Green Streets claimed three points in their games on Thursday.
