In video: a crazy scenario at Gulf Cup 27: Yemen turn the tables and rain five goals on Bahrain | Goal.com
Yemen wrote an unforgettable footballing chapter in the third and final round of the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27" group stage. Trailing Bahrain by a goal, they roared back to build a crushing four-goal lead in just 45 minutes that overturned every expectation.
The match finished 5-2 to Yemen, a result that saved face as they claimed third in a group featuring Qatar and the UAE, and dumped Bahrain into fourth and last.
Both sides walked out chasing a face-saving victory, their exits already sealed by defeats to Qatar and the UAE in the previous two rounds. What followed came as a shock to the Yemeni fans.
Bahrain imposed themselves from the off. Striker Ali Al-Dosari found a gap in the Yemeni defence to slot home in the seventh minute for a 1-0 lead, a goal that disrupted Yemen's calculations and set the Bahraini stands alight.
Yemen's response was unforgettable. In the eighteenth minute, Nasser Mahmoudah Al-Ghawashi latched onto a long ball behind the defenders, set off with his pace, and beat Bahrain's Hussein Abdul Karim with a cunning piece of skill that dumped him on the ground. The fans went wild.
Mahmoudah didn't hesitate. He unleashed a powerful strike into the net to level the match at 1-1.
Scoring wasn't enough for him. He wheeled towards the fans and celebrated in the manner of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo with the famous "Siuuu", and the Yemeni stands erupted. This goal was the spark that ignited Yemen's uprising.
Buoyed by the equaliser, Yemen seized the initiative and imposed their fast-paced style. The awaited moment arrived in the thirty-first minute, when captain Abdulwasea Al-Matari turned that pressure into a second goal with a well-taken strike from inside the box. Yemen led 2-1.
Bahrain crumbled mentally once they fell behind, and Yemen pounced. In the fortieth minute, an organised attack from midfield found Rami Al-Wasmani, who slotted home with ease for a third goal and a 3-1 lead, leaving the Bahraini fans stunned.
Before anyone could catch their breath, and a minute before the break, Adel Abbas Qasim delivered the knockout blow. In the forty-fourth minute, he pounced on a scramble inside the penalty area and struck a powerful shot for Yemen's fourth, ending a crazy first half at 4-1.
Ali Jaafar Modan lit the match up again in the 67th minute. His goal pulled one back for Bahrain, restored hope to his team and set the closing minutes alight.
Modan struck after an organised Bahraini attack, exploiting the spaces in the Yemeni defence to place a well-directed shot into the net. His goal made it 4-2 and piled the pressure back on a Yemeni side that had dominated throughout.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, 90+5, Rami Al-Wasmani fired the coup de grâce at Bahrain's hopes with Yemen's fifth. His second of the match confirmed Yemen's sweeping superiority and closed the goals festival. A swift counter-attack sent him into the space behind the Bahraini defence, and he placed the ball confidently into the net for a historic 5-2 win.
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