Saudi Arabia on Tuesday despatched the crowded Khalifa International Stadium into frenzy by staging a comeback to win 2-1 towards Oman of their Asian Cup Group F opener as Ali Al-Bulayhi secured the victory with a aim within the sixth minute of stoppage time following a VAR intervention.
With the rating tied at 1-1, Al-Bulayhi scored with a close-range header from a set piece, and though the linesman’s flag instantly went up for offside, VAR awarded Roberto Mancini’s aspect the aim.
“The goal is a gift to the Saudi people. This is what great players do,” mentioned Al-Bulayhi, who celebrated the dramatic winner in trademark style by inflating a inexperienced balloon close to the nook flag.
The victory takes Saudi Arabia stage on three factors with Thailand, who beat Kyrgyzstan 2-0 within the different Group F encounter earlier within the day when Supachai Chaided scored on both aspect of halftime.
Oman’s opener within the 14th minute got here towards the run of play when the Saudis took a poor nook, and as their opponents countered at velocity, defender Hassan Al-Tambakti clipped Muhsen Al-Ghassani simply as he entered the field.
The penalty was awarded after a VAR evaluation, and Salaah Al-Yahyaei stepped as much as rating with a assured end down the center, drawing a large roar that echoed contained in the cavernous area.
Oman had been disciplined in protection, and Saudi Arabia discovered it tough to interrupt by the wall of purple shirts. On the odd event they did get by, they wasted their alternatives with photographs that didn’t discover the goal.
Rekindled vigor
Mancini lower a pissed off determine close to his dugout, however his halftime group speak should have struck a chord as his gamers got here out with renewed vigor seeking an equalizer.
“The second half was better than the first half; we created a lot of chances and had more possession. If you have more possession, you have chances to score,” Mancini informed reporters.
“Oman defended very well. We didn’t find good solutions at first, but we had chances, and we scored the second goal in the end, but we should have scored before.”
Oman had been restricted to counterattacks, with Al-Yahyaei main the cost and creating probabilities, however he didn’t have assist within the remaining third as they spurned golden alternatives to attain a second.
Al-Yahyaei was toying with the Saudi protection within the second half, however the 25-year-old had nothing left within the tank by the seventy fifth minute, signaling to the bench to take him off, and he left the pitch to rapturous applause from the Oman followers.
But Saudi Arabia had been the higher aspect within the second half, and after lacking a few probabilities, Abdulrahman Ghareeb took it upon himself to dribble previous 4 Oman defenders earlier than ending calmly to get the Saudis singing once more.
And as soon as Al-Bulayhi accomplished the comeback, following a interval of confusion, the inexperienced nook of the stadium erupted when their gamers celebrated, whereas Oman had been left to marvel what might have been.
“The first goal came from midfield, although we had more players (defending), but Ghareeb showed great quality. He has good capabilities,” Oman coach Branko Ivankovic mentioned.
“Saudi Arabia deserved the victory … We wanted to score a second goal for the players to feel comfortable. But towards the end, we didn’t have options.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com