Caitlin Dillon
Ten-time tournament champions Kuwait suffered a shock 4-2 defeat at the hands of Bahrain, cutting their Gulf Cup campaign short and depriving them of a chance at an 11th victory.
Despite being one of the most thrilling encounters of this year’s tournament, it remained goalless until the game was heading into half time. In the first minute of stoppage time, Ali Madan cut through the Kuwaiti defense, slotting the ball around the keeper.
However, following half time Kuwait came out fighting, with multiple chances in the first 15 minutes. Their chance to equalise finally came when Jasim Al-Shaikh downed Redha Abujabarah on the edge of the box, and the referee awarded a penalty, which Yousef Nasser calmly converted.
The stadium erupted five minutes later, when the Kuwaitis went ahead with a goal from Yousef Nasser, however their lead was short-lived as VAR stepped in yet again to disallow the goal.
Once back on an even-keel, Bahrain were quick to retaliate, as Al-Shaikh redeemed himself for his earlier blunder by taking his side back into the lead.
Thiago Augusto extended Bahrain’s unlikely lead in the 83rd minute, before Kuwait’s Ahmed Zanki responded.
With Bahrain hanging on to a slim one-goal lead, Kuwait began an erratic attempt to equalise in order to keep themselves in the running for the semi-finals. But, in the third minute of stoppage time, Augusto added insult to injury, taking away any qualification hopes Kuwait may have been holding on to, and cementing his side’s place in the next round of matches.
The semi-finals will take place on Thursday the 5th of December, with Iraq facing Bahrain in the early match, and Saudi Arabia facing Qatar in the second.