Our Olympic team took the lead after beating the Emirates 2-0 on Thursday at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent in the third and final round of the 2022 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup Group D competition in Uzbekistan. After the first half ended in a goalless draw, Al-Akhdar managed to score two goals in the second half thanks to Ayman Yahya (57) and Saud Abdel Hamid (90 + 3 from the penalty spot).
The Emirates ended the match with ten men after defender Eid Khamis was sent off in the 75th minute.
In the second match in the same group, Japan defeated Tajikistan 3-0 at the Bunyodkor stadium.
Al Akhdar led the group standings with 7 points in three matches with a goal difference with Japan compared to 3 points for the Emirates, while Tajikistan’s balance sheet was left without points as Saudi Arabia and Japan received qualification cards for the quarter-finals. the final.
In the quarter-finals, Saudi Arabia will face Vietnam, second in Group C, on Sunday, while Japan will face South Korea, first in Group C.
At the beginning of the match, the lead tipped in favor of the Greens, who had a chance in the seventh minute thanks to Abdullah Radif, who received the ball on the edge of the penalty area and got rid of two defenders before shooting into the goal. and a kick from goalkeeper Suhail Abdullah who turned him in for a corner.
But the UAE team responded in the 16th minute with a shot from Ahmed Abdullah from the right side of the penalty area, which bounced off the post and the ball returned to Hussein Mahdi in the arc of the penalty area to take another shot, but the post intervened again to deprive him of points.
The third opportunity for the Emirates was missed by Abdullah Muhammad, who, after a cross pass, won the ball back from the penalty area, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi scored by moving the ball to a corner (18).
And the mutual opportunities continued for the two teams, and this time it was for Saudi Arabia Hamed Al Ghamdi, who exchanged passes with Haytham Asiri and got rid of the defender before he hit the ball from a tight angle, which was pushed away by the Emirates goalkeeper for a corner ( 24).
Saudi Arabia has had its fair share of goal rebounds as Saud Abdul Hameed took a free kick from the left but the ball bounced off the crossbar (32).
Radif then shot from outside the area, goalkeeper Suhail Abdullah sent the ball into the corner (39) before Asiri scored a goal that was canceled after calling on video assistant referee technology due to hand touching (40). .
As the second half began, the situation continued in the same scenario, with our team missing out in the 50th minute with a sub-kick from the box that went right over the crossbar (51), before the Emirates goalkeeper shone in the face of Asiri’s personality.
Al Akhdar managed to steal the net from striker Ayman Yahya, who followed the ball down the left flank and got rid of a defender before advancing into the box and hitting the net (57).
The UAE team tried to attack to correct the result, but the team’s ambitions were hit hard after Eid Khamis was sent off in the 75th minute.
Our team was able to add a second goal through a penalty, appointed after turning to the video assistant referee technology due to the possession of the ball by the defender Yousef Al-Muhari, and it was successfully executed by Saud Abdul Hameed (90+3). .
