A star turn by midfielder Sayed Jawad Haider Alawi propelled Bahrain to a 3-1 win over Pakistan in their second Group D game of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Muharraq Stadium.
Alawi had a hand in all three Bahrain goals, scoring the first two himself and providing a deft assist in the third as the hosts secured the vital three points they needed to stay in the race for qualification after losing their opening game, 1-0, to Palestine last Wednesday.
“I’m very happy with the team’s performance tonight,” a pleased Bahrain head coach, Dario Basic told the GDN after the game.
“It wasn’t easy to react emotionally after the loss to Palestine after we had controlled that match for almost 90 minutes only to concede that lone goal in stoppage time.
“But the players made up for that against Pakistan by controlling the game again and, this time, converting the chances they managed to create.”
Earlier, Bahrain surged into the lead in the 24th minute when Alawi, with a left-footed shot that would have made Lionel Messi proud, curled the ball from just outside the Pakistan box over the leaping defenders and past goalkeeper Salman Ul Haq, whose desperate, lunge to his right proved to be in vain.
Bahrain could have gone 2-0 up just four minutes later when Mubarak Mohammed sent the ball whizzing across the turf toward the Pakistani goal from distance but Haq managed to keep it out this time with another dive to his right.
Seven minutes later, Pakistan almost managed to equalise but Haroon Faheem Hamid’s right-footed attempt saw the ball skim just past the right goal-post and into the advertising hoardings.
Bahrain headed into the change room, still leading 1-0 at half-time but, just two minutes into the second half, went 2-0 up when Alawi produced a stunning goal from, sending the ball hurtling past three Pakistani defenders and a diving Haq into the back of the net.
Two more minutes later, Alawi was in the thick of the action again as he threaded the ball through two Pakistani defenders to Husain Abdulaziz, positioned right in front of the goal, whose shot deflected off a defender and bounced across the line, just evading another desperate lunge from Haq.
Shortly thereafter, Pakistan had the chance to get on the scoreboard but Fareedullah’s header soared over the bar.
Ten minutes later, Pakistan missed another opportunity to score when Hamid, in the penalty area, sent the ball just wide of the right goal-post.
But they didn’t miss their next chance in the most extraordinary moment of the game which came in the 70th minute.
Midfielder Alamgir Khan Ghazi, from just inside the Pakistani half, sent the ball soaring towards the Bahraini goal where goalkeeper Abdulla AlAhmed completely misjudged its flight, ran too far in, tried to compensate by leaping as high as he could and watched it brush his fingers before nestling in the back of the netting.
The Pakistanis appeared understandably buoyed by that stroke of luck and started to put a little pressure on the Bahrainis. But the hosts managed to hold them at bay as the clock ticked towards full-time and barely celebrated after the final whistle was blown with both teams visibly spent because of the hot, humid conditions.
“We completely dominated the game except for the last 20 minutes or so when Pakistan began to create some pressure after scoring that remarkable goal,” Basic said.
“But our defending was on point and we didn’t allow them to create any further chances.”
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