Review: UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia

CAIRO – 30 August 2017: The UAE defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Tuesday night at Hamza bin Sayed Stadium in the UAE during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Both teams started the game trying to score the first goal to have the upper hand in the game. Saudi Arabia scored the first goal on a penalty by Nawaf El Abed in the 22nd minute, but UAE striker Ali Mabkhot needed just a minute to equalize the score to end the first half 1-1.

The second half started with both teams creating chances to score the leading goal, which is exactly what Emirati forward Ahmed Khalil did in the 60th minute. It was a beautiful strike from a long distance.

Saudi Arabian coach Bert van Marwijk tried to return to the game through his substitutes, Fahd El Mowalad and Nasser El Shamrani, to play alongside his starting striker, Mohamed El Sahlawi, but the three players failed to equalize the score for Saudi Arabia. Despite the UAE playing with 10 players after Mahmoud Khamis was awarded a red card minutes before the final whistle, they still lost the match.

Saudi Arabia remains in third place with 16 points in Group B, and the UAE remains in fourth place with 13 points to revive their chances to qualify to the 2018 World Cup.