Riyadh: Bahrain scored two own-goals to hand hosts Saudi Arabia a 3-0 win in their second Gulf Cup group match at the King Fahd International Stadium on Sunday.
Nasser Al Shamrani gave The Green Falcons a first-half lead before Abdullah Al Hazaa and Mohammad Hussain both turned crosses into their own net after the interval.
Saudi went ahead before the half hour when Bahrain keeper Sayed Jaffar came out of his goal to force Salim Al Dawsari wide. However, Al Dawsari played the ball back into the box before Jaffar could intercept enabling Nasser Al Shamrani to tap into an open goal.
The Green Falcons added a second soon after the interval when Bahrain’s Abdullah Al Hazaa turned the ball into his own net after a cross from Saudi’s Saeed Al Muwallad.
Bahrain’s humiliation was then complete 20 minutes from time when Mohammad Hussain scored another own-goal for The Reds, accidentally tapping in from Salman Al Faraj’s cross.
Saudi drew their opening game 1-1 with Qatar on Thursday, while Bahrain drew 0-0 with Yemen.
In Sunday’s other game Yemen held Qatar to a 0-0 draw. Saudi now lead Group A on four points, while Yemen and Qatar are level second on two points and will contest for second in their final group games on Wednesday: Yemen must get an unlikely result over Saudi, while Qatar face foot-of-the-table Bahrain.
