2019 AFC Asian Cup Group A

With six minutes played, Ali Mabkhout found Ismail Al Hammadi, who fired narrowly wide of Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Shubbar Alawi’s far post.

[4] Khalid Eisa then made a double save to deny Bahrain in the 52nd minute by first palming away Ali Madan’s drive and blocking Mohamed Al Romaihi’s subsequent follow-up.

Eight minutes after the hour mark, Bahrain failed to clear the lines at a corner and the ball was eventually deflected into the path of Mabkhout, who shot just wide of the post.

Bahraini substitute Mohamed Marhoon, who had only just come on, handled the ball in the area on 88 minutes and Ahmed Khalil, having come off the bench for his 100th cap, scored the resulting penalty to ensure his side a point.

Moments after the restart, Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh combined to set up Chhetri who fired home past Chatchai from 15 yards to restore his side’s advantage.

[15] Five minutes before half-time, Anas Edathodika made a mess of it and allowed Ali Mabkhout to set up Khalfan Mubarak to fire home past Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

After the break, substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua fired a shot narrowly off target and then Udanta Singh rattled the Emirati bar with a drive from a narrow angle.

The UAE doubled their advantage in the final moments when Mabkhout converted Ali Salmeen’s pass to secure the victory despite Mohamed Ahmed crashing the ball against his own woodwork deep into stoppage time.

[15] Man of the Match: Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) Assistant referees:[14] Miguel Hernández (Mexico) Alberto Morín (Mexico) Fourth official: Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Additional assistant referees: Jumpei Iida (Japan) Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan) The United Arab Emirates and Thailand both booked their places in the knockout stage as a 1–1 draw at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium was enough to ensure both nations progressed.

Bahrain then applied pressure on the Blue Tigers' defence as goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into action three minutes later to save Sayed Dhiya Saeed's left footed shot from outside the box.