RIYADH, 21 January — Hassan Al-Yami scored twice to help favorites Saudi Arabia to a 3-1 win over 10-man Bahrain in the Gulf Cup yesterday, their first victory in two outings in the round-robin competition.
Al-Yami struck in the 14th and 32nd minutes before Saudi’s top striker Sami Al-Jaber sealed the triumph in injury time to lift his side to second in the standings, two points behind leaders Qatar.
Bahrain, who were reduced to 10 men after Ibrahim Al-Mushakhis was sent off, scored a consolation goal through Rashed Jamal after 67 minutes.
“We played well, but we also made mistakes which were fully exploited by the Saudis,” Bahrain coach Wolfgang Sedka said afterward.
Earlier, Qatar produced a polished performance to beat a lackluster United Arab Emirates side 2-0 for their second victory in as many games in the tournament.
Jaffal Rashed struck in the 35th minute while Yasser Nazmi translated a flowing move from the right to complete the tally in the 83rd.
Qatar, who beat Bahrain in their first match, took their tally to six points and topped the standings. It was the UAE’s first defeat after beating Oman in their opening game.
“We played a brilliant match,” Qatar’s French coach Pierre Lachanter said. “Six points from two matches is not a bad start.”
UAE’s Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere added: “The Qataris scored from long distance while we missed chances from close range.”
