Oman enter Gulf Cup final (Victory over Bahrain in semifinal 1-0)

As the match progressed, Bahrain tried to match Oman but it was the latter who threatend to score at least on two occasions. Following a series of raids, Oman earned a free-kick in the 23rd minute and ‘Kanu’ surprised the rivals with a powerful piledrive but fortunately for Bahrain the ball went straight to keeper Sayed Mujtaba.

Player of the match: Ahmed Mubarak's award came as an icing on the cake in Oman's victory. Photo - OFA

Four minutes later, Jameel Al Yahmadi unleashed a powerful long-range shot but Sayed Mujtaba just about managed to push the ball over the bar.

However, a minute later the Bahraini keeper was left banging the sidebar in frustration as Mahdi Abduljabbar nodded the ball into their own goal.

While that goal dented the morale of the Bahrainis, they did well to put up a fight in the second half when their Czech coach Miroslav Soukup brought in Ibrahim Hadid in place of Abdullah Ali.

For a brief period, Ibrahim Hadid troubled the Omani defenders no end and in fact on two occasions came close to clinching the equaliser.

In the 59th minute, the unmarked Bahraini substitute fired straight into the body of a Omani defender. And in the 63th minute, following a corner taken from the right, Ibrahim Hadid came up with superb diving header but Omani custodian Fayeez Al Rusheidi too made an excellent save, diving to his left.

Bahrain’s best chance came in the 80th minute and once again it was Ibrahim Hadid who came up with a close range shot. Though the ball got under Fayeez’s body, Ali Al Busaidi cleared the ball in time to keep Oman on the path to the final.

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