Maziya has beaten New Radiant in a penalty shootout and claimed the Cup Winners' Cup champion title for the very first time.
The match was played last night at the national football stadium, with full-time seeing a score of 2-2. Maziya won the match 4-2 via the penalty shootout.
Maziya took the lead in the 4th minute of the match. Maziya defended a corner kick from New Radiant and launched a counter attack when most of New Radiant's players were down the field.
Ibrahim Mahudhee Hussain (Feydhoo Ibbe) was in possession of the ball and sprinted up the field, making a calculated pass in front of the penalty box to Ilan.
Ilan did not give the New Radiant defenders a chance and slotted the ball into goal.
However, Maziya's lead did not last. New Radiant's Liberian midfielder Abdulai Bility was given the ball outside Maziya's penalty box and attempted to go inside for a shot on goal, with the defenders fouling him in order to stop him.
The referee was ready to sound the whistle to award New Radiant a free kick, but the ball was quickly claimed by Ali Fasir (Sentey) who was close by. The referee signaled an advantage and the match continued.
Fasir took one touch and shot at goal, with the ball going over the head of the slightly out-of-position Maziya goalkeeper Hussain Shareef.
Maziya took the lead once more in the 28th minute. A combination play between Abdulla Looth Ibrahim and Ahmed Aiham (Fatho) saw Aiham's shot blaze past New Radiant defenders and into the side of the goal where goalkeeper Mohamed Faisal was standing.
New Radiant equalized again before the first half came to a close. Brazilian midfielder Guilherme Silva passed the ball to Fasir through Maziya's players, where he scored the equalizing goal.
The match to kick-off the season saw a draw at full-time. Due to the draw, the match went to a penalty shootout instead of playing the two halves of extra time.
New Radiant's Silva scored the first penalty, with Maziya's Ilan scoring his penalty right after. New Radiant Dorielton Gomes' (Dori) low attempt skidded past the goal post and past the goal line.
New Radiant Moosa Yameen missed his attempt as well.
Nigerian forward Benjamin Kuku scored the winning penalty for Maziya.
This is the second tournament that Maziya had won against New Radiant via penalties this season. Earlier, Maziya had also won the Charity Shield as well.
