Asian Cup Match 22: Three-Goal Win for Bahrain over Afghanistan

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Match 22: Afghanistan v Bahrain

Three-Goal Win for Bahrain over Afghanistan

January 10th, 2020

Afghanistan 0 Bahrain 3

 

Bahrain opened with three goals in the first half to set up a solid win over Afghanistan.

 

For Afghanistan, Fareed Sadat came on as left back in place of Zelfy Nazary. Noor Husin shifted to the right midfield. Bahrain kept an unchanged line up.

 

Bahrain showed their intent from the outset, with the express aim at scoring early and scoring plenty. Abdulla Hardan had the first shot of the match, blocked by the Afghani defence. From the resulting corner, Jasim Al-Shaikh ran toward goal and headed into the gap, giving Bahrain the lead.

 

However, the middle period of the first half was littered by offsides as the Afghani defence relied on their structure to deny Bahrain any positive movement toward goal.

 

Instead, Bahrain reworked their strategy. Abdulla Yusuf Helal needed three attempts before he scored, doubling the Bahraini lead.

 

Al-Shaikh then headed his second after receiving the rebound from an initial save.

 

Abdulwahab Al Malood then had a chance late, only for the Afghani goalkeeper to reach the ball first.

 

After the break, Afghanistan sought some kind of response. Adam Najem placed a through ball to Faisal Shayesteh, only for him to miss to the right.

 

Instead, Helal had a great chance to bag a brace, also missing to the right.

 

The remainder of the match saw no more shots on target and the game ended three-nil, the same scoreline at halftime.

 

Important aspects of the match:

No Afghanistan shots on target.

Afghanistan’s best afield: Milad Intezar with equal most tackles overall; Sadat; Omran Haydari.

Husin with most passes and equal most dribbling attempts for Afghanistan.

Shayesteh and Fashad Noor with equal most dribbling attempts for Afghanistan.

Najem with equal most tackles overall.

Zohib Islam with two key intercepts, one clearance and one block.

 

 

Bahrain’s best afield: Al-Shaikh with his brace and most passes and dribbles overall; Sayed Baqer in central defence with three key clearances and two intercepts; Hardan with equal most tackles overall.

Helal with three shots on target.

Ahmed Bughammar with four key intercepts and two clearances.

Abdulla Al Hazaa with three key clearances and two intercepts.

 

Group E

Having not won a game, the Syrians are in dire need of a win in their final match against Bahrain. That will propel them into second place and into the Round of 16. Bahrain, however, will know a draw will be enough. Bahrain, however, will dream of top spot and will do everything in their power to win and win big, as they did against Afghanistan. In all likelihood, Iraq and Bahrain will be the teams to qualify, with Syria and Afghanistan missing out.

 

	Group E	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Iraq	2	1	1	0	4	+1
2	Bahrain	2	1	0	1	3	+2
3	Syria	2	0	2	0	2	0
4	Afghanistan	2	0	1	1	1	-3