DOHA: Yusuf Abdurisag scored the winner as Qatar edged Yemen 1-0 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah Sunday, with a second straight win taking the Asian champions to the Arabian Gulf Cup semi-finals.
UAE’s 3-0 victory over defending champions Bahrain later in the day ensured the Emiratis and Qatar advanced from Group B, with Bahrain and Yemen out of contention for a place in the knockout stage with one round to go.
Qatar and UAE will face off on Wednesday to decide the group toppers, while Yemen and Bahrain will play for consolation on the same day.
The Group A winners will face the Group B runners-up, while the Group B winners will meet the Group A runners-up. Hosts Saudi Arabia currently lead Group A with six points from two games, followed by Iran on four points from as many matches.
Qatar, who are 86 places above Yemen in the FIFA world rankings, struggled to turn their dominance into goals and missed several chances, including a penalty from Akram Afif.
However, Abdurisag’s 64th-minute goal handed Julen Lopetegui’s side their second straight, taking their tally to six points.
Afif fired wide from a good position while Karim Boudiaf’s header flew over the bar as Qatar looked for an early lead.
Hassan Al Haydos, who came off the bench to score in Qatar’s 2-0 win over Bahrain on Thursday, started and tested Yemen goalkeeper Mohammed Aman with a long-range shot, but the keeper dived to make the save.
Aman was outstanding, making several important saves to keep Qatar from taking the lead.
An injury forced Issa Laye off early in the match, with Jassim Gaber coming on as his replacement.
Aman denied Afif twice before the half-hour mark. First, he stopped a volley from the Al Sadd star before blocking his shot after Al Haydos sent a long ball into the box.
Ayoub Alawi failed to connect with a header from a promising position as the stalemate continued at the interval.
Lopetegui sent in Edmilson Junior after the break, replacing Hashim Ali.
Aman continued his brilliant goalkeeping, stopping Abdurisag’s header shortly after the interval. Boualem Khoukhi, who scored against Bahrain, then headed just wide of the right post.
Lopetegui made a double substitution at the one-hour mark, sending on Ahmed Alaa and Sultan Al Brake for Al Haydos and Homam Al Amin respectively.
Qatar finally went ahead four minutes later. Al Brake sent a cross to Edmilson, who tapped the ball to Abdurisag, who connected from close range.
Qatar could have doubled their lead, but Aman stopped Afif’s penalty, diving to keep out his low shot towards the right corner.
Pedro Miguel, who was pushed by Hamzah Ghaleb, had won the penalty following a corner kick.
Khoukhi blocked Adel Abbas Qasem’s attempt as Yemen tried to make a late comeback, but Qatar held on to their narrow lead to claim the win.
Later, Ousmane Camara (30th minute), Guilherme Bala (66) and Ali Saleh (88) scored for UAE, who defeated Yemen 4-0 in their opening match.
