Saudi Arabia wins a thriller against Oman, Thailand has it easy
Saudi Arabia came from behind to beat Oman 2-1 in controversial fashion in a Group F match of the AFC Asian Cup at a packed Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday.
VAR awarded the Green Falcons a late winner from Ali Al Bulayhi in the sixth minute of added time.
Oman took the lead when they counter-attacked from a poorly taken Saudi corner and Hassan Al Tambakti won a penalty when he was clipped in the box, with Salaah Al Yahyaei stepping up to score with a confident finish.
But Saudi Arabia were the better side in the second half, and after missing a couple of chances, Abdulrahman Ghareeb took it upon himself to dribble past four Oman defenders before finishing calmly to get the Saudis singing again.
The Saudis completed the comeback in the sixth minute of added time when Al Bulayhi headed home from a set piece, and although the linesman's flag went up for offside, VAR intervened to award Roberto Mancini’s side the goal.
Meanwhile, Supachai Chaided proved to be Thailand’s hero as he struck twice in his team’s 2-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in another Group F game at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Thailand — having seen their Southeast Asian rivals Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam suffer opening match defeats — produced a dominant display to take full points.
Thailand were quicker to settle and good work from Nicholas Mickelson on the right created a chance for Supacho Sarachat in the 14th minute, with his shot hitting the post. Supachai slotted home from the rebound, but it was ruled offside.
Bordin Phala, released down the left side in the 26th, cut inside before unleashing a curling grounder from 25 yards out that was palmed by Erzhan Tokotaev into the path of Supachai, who rushed in for a simple finish.
Masatada Ishii’s players started the second half in confident fashion, almost doubling their lead within two minutes of restart.
The second goal came almost immediately after when Kyrgyzstan failed to deal with Mickelson’s cross — the ball hitting the back of Tamirlan Kozubaev — giving Supachai another tap-in for his second of the night.
The Southeast Asian side will look to continue their momentum when they take on Oman on Sunday while Kyrgyzstan will have the difficult task of bouncing back against Saudi Arabia the same day.
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