25th Gulf Cup: Oman beat Bahrain to reach final

Muscat: Two-time champions Oman will eye their third title, come this Thursday, as they sealed their berth in the summit clash of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup with a 1-0 win over defending champions Bahrain in the second semi-final match at Al Mina’a Olympic Stadium in Basra, Iraq, on Monday night.

A peach of a goal by Jameel Al Yahmadi with just five minutes remaining powered Oman to the final. The pile-driver from Yahmadi beat the diving Bahrain goalkeeper Saad Jaffer to put Oman into their fifth ever final.

Oman’s last appearance in the final was during their title-winning triumph in Kuwait in 2017-2018.

The Red Warriors, coached by Croatian Branko Ivankovic, will take on Iraq in the final after the hosts edged past reigning Asian champions Qatar 2-1 in an earlier semi-final at Basra International Stadium.

Both Oman and Bahrain failed to break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes though the teams had goal-scoring chances.

Bahrain started on a positive note with couple of raids on Oman citadel.

The Red Warriors slowly got into the groove and made two threatening moves in the 11th and 12th minutes with Salah Al Yahyei getting the best chance.

Oman’s goalkeeper Ibrahim Al Mukhaini was also kept busy by Bahrain strikers. Mukhaini had to come up with a good save to deny Bahrain’s Abdullah Yousuf in the 22nd minute as the teams fought an attritional midfield battle for the last quarter of the first half.

In the second half, both teams put up a more aggressive approach in search of the elusive goal and finally the efforts of Oman were rewarded with a magical strike from Yahmadi.