Saudi Arabia beat nine-man Kyrgyzstan to reach last 16

Roberto Mancini’s Saudi Arabia reached the Asian Cup knockout rounds yesterday with a laboured 2-0 win over a Kyrgyzstan side who played almost half the game with nine men.
Ayzar Akmatov was sent off in the ninth minute for a studs-up challenge before Mohamed Kanno opened the scoring for the three-time champion Saudis in the 35th minute in Doha.
Kyrgyzstan’s Kimi Merk also saw red for another bad tackle seven minutes into the second half.
But Saudi Arabia – ranked 56 in the world to Kyrgyzstan’s 98 – managed only one more late goal from Faisal al-Ghamdi in a toothless attacking performance.
The win gave the Saudis, who came back to claim a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Oman in their opening game, six points from two matches.
They lead Group F two points ahead of Thailand, who drew 0-0 with Oman earlier in the day.
Saudi Arabia joined hosts and holders Qatar, Australia, Iran and Iraq in booking their places in the last 16.
Akmatov was initially only yellow-carded for driving his studs into Sami al-Naji’s shin, but the referee flashed the red after a VAR check.
The Saudis could not immediately turn the numerical advantage into goals, with Feras al-Brikan missing two golden chances to give the them the lead.
The frustration looked set to continue when Abdulelah al-Malki hit the post, but Saud Abdulhamid collected the rebound and crossed the ball back into the box for Kanno to volley home.
Already facing an uphill struggle, Kyrgyzstan were reduced to nine men in the 52nd minute after another VAR red-card check.
Merk’s hefty challenge on Hassan Tambakti was judged to be a sending-off offence.
But the Saudis again failed to capitalise, with Kanno shooting harmlessly over the bar in the 68th minute before Saleh al-Shehri glanced a header wide 10 minutes later. Substitute Ghamdi finally added a second goal in the 84th minute, letting fly with a shot from the edge of the box that Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper Erzhan Tokotaev fumbled into the goal.
Goalless draw between
Thailand, OmanThailand boosted their hopes of advancing to the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 knockout stage after battling to a goalless draw with Oman in their Group F tie yesterday.
The result took Thailand to four points with three-time champions Saudi Arabia their final group stage opponents while the draw means Oman’s hopes hang in the balance with the West Asian side to play Kyrgyz Republic in their concluding tie.
Thailand defeated Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 in their opener while Oman suffered a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.
While Thailand showed slightly more initiative in the early minutes of the game, both teams began the match with a measured approach and avoided too many offensive forays.
The War Elephants had their first chance when a 15th minute corner kick from Teerathon Bunmathan was powerfully headed towards the Oman goal by defender Elias Dolah. However, the attempt was cleared to safety by midfielder Abdullah Fawaz after being initially punched away by goalkeeper Ibrahim al-Mukhaini.
Oman began to find their footing, Issam al-Sabhi receiving Jameel al-Yahmadi’s cross at an opportune position inside the box but had his left-footed shot to the centre of the goal blocked by Thai goalkeeper Siwarak Tedsungneon.
The West Asian side closed the half strongly but couldn’t find a breakthrough as they took the stalemate into the break.
A more determined Thailand side took the field in the second half and there was a window of opportunity opened when Suphanat Mueanta intercepted an overhead cross from Oman’s Arshad al-Alawi and charged forward into the Oman box but was met by the steely figure of defender Ahmed al-Khamisi.
Almost immediately after, Oman skipper Harib al-Saadi tore through the Thai defence but despite warding off as many as four white shirts, had his attempt blocked by the Thai custodian.
The Branko Ivankovic-led Oman came to life as the clock hit the 70th minute and began to pile pressure on the Thai defence line, most notably with Khalid al-Baikri’s free-kick finding al-Sabhi inside the six yard box but his attempt to poke the ball into the Thai net was deftly parried away by the goalkeeper.
? AFP/the-afc.com