MUSCAT, JAN 9
Hosts Iraq boosted their semifinal hopes in the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup with a 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia in a rain-affected Group A match at the Basra Stadium on Monday night.
Aso Rostam’s goal in the 86th minute confirmed the Iraqi triumph after a first-half goal by Ibrahim Bayesh.
Dhurgham Ismail sent a cross to the right and Rostam’s diving header went into the bottom left corner of the Saudi net. The goal was awarded following a VAR review.
With the win, Iraq are on top of Group A with four points from two matches. Oman are second on the same points with lesser goal average.
Saudi Arabia are third with three points and Yemen are bottom with no points.
Ibrahim Bayesh made the Iraqi fans ecstatic with the brilliant goal in the 30th minute. Bayesh’s inch perfect shot after a corner rested inside the right corner of the Saudi net. The corner was headed away by the Saudi defender but fell on trot for Bayesh to unleash a powerful shot.
Rain continued unabated for the second match at the Basra stadium as the pitch looked drenched and difficult to maneuver ball movement.
In the 44th minute, Iraq advanced to the Saudi penalty box after a through ball from Mohammed Ali Abbood, but Aymen Hussein was caught offside.
In the 43rd minute, Aymen Hussain’s good attempt was saved by Saudi goalkeeper Nawaf al Aqidi.
Saudi made a good move in the 40th minute. Raed al Ghamdi was offside after receiving a through ball from Ziyad al Sahafi.
Iraq’s Dhurgham Ismail was booked in the 37th minute for a foul on Madallah al Olayan of Saudi Arabia.
Dhurgham earlier put his shot outside the Saudi box high and wide to the left in the 19th minute.
In the 10th minute, Iraq pushed ahead with a perfect cross from Hasan Abdulkareem to Aymen Hussein, whose shot went wide to the right.
In the fourth minute, Saudi missed a chance from close range as Qassem Lajami’s left-footed shot missed the target to the right.
The match started with Iraq making the first attack and Aymen Hussain’s shot after an assist from Alai Ghasem was saved by the Saudi keeper.
NEAR MISSES
The second-half started with Iraq missing a close opportunity. Hasan Abdulkareem’s nice cross was connected by Aymen Hussein with a close-range header but was saved by Saudi keeper Nawaf.
Saudi’s Raed al Ghamdi was caught offside after a through pass by Ahmed Bamasud in the 56th minute.
Iraq’s Amjad Attwan had his two attempts missed in a span of five minutes.
In 51st minute, Attwan’s left-footed shot from outside the box was saved by goalkeeper Nawaf. Three minutes later, Attwan’s header missed the target to the right.
Both the coaches opted for some substitutions in the difficult playing condition in the next phase.
Iraq coach Jesus Garcia replaced Aymen Hussein and Hasan Abdulkareem with Aso Rostam and Sherko Karim respectively.
Saudi coach Herve Renard substituted Raed al Ghamdi and Musab al Juwayr with Mohammed Maran and Turki al Ammar respectively.
Saudi made two good attempts in the next few minutes but Sumayhan al Nabit fell to the off-side traps on both the occasions.
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