AFC U17 Asian Cup
The other match saw Lebanon impress with a 7-0 win against Brunei Darussalam.
Bahrain 1-1 Kuwait
The game’s first chance fell to Bahrain’s Sayed Mahdi following a quick break with the winger only just missing at the far post with his low strike while Kuwait’s Hasan Al Ostad headed into the side netting from Mohammad Al Jadaan’s free-kick.
Kuwait opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Bader Al Dawood’s free-kick took a deflection off the defensive wall to wrong-foot goalkeeper Adnan Hasan and roll into the net.
Bahrain weren’t behind for long, Al Ostad and Hussain Al Saffar got in each other’s way trying to clear the ball with Zeyad Mohamed pouncing on the loose ball to smash into the bottom corner three minutes later.
Qualifiers - Group G: Bahrain v Kuwait
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Kuwait forced Hasan to make another save 11 minutes into the second half to prevent Al Dawood’s grounder from the edge of the box in an otherwise second half where both sides cancelled each other out.
Bahrain had a couple of free-kicks in stoppage time but neither Mohamed Ateya nor Abdulrahman Majed could steer their efforts on target with Hamad Abdulla getting his marching orders late on for a second yellow as the teams settled for a share of the points.
Brunei Darussalam 0-7 Lebanon
Lebanon got off to a brilliant start as Malek Mouarkech weaved his way past seven Brunei Darussalam players before slamming a near post effort past Fashya Habibie.
The West Asian side struck again two minutes later when Jawad Mouslimani drove into the box from the left flank and his cross was turned in by Jad Al Zohbi.
Jad Barouk spurned a great opportunity, blazing a rebound high over the bar after Fashya had saved Ibrahim Farchoukh’s initial header.
Farchoukh was not to be denied a second time, receiving Sari Hannoun’s pass in the 33rd minute before thundering a strike past Fashya for Lebanon to take a comfortable 3-0 lead at the break.
Qualifiers - Group G: Brunei Darussalam v Lebanon
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Lebanon pushed for more goals in the second half with Omar Dalal’s long range effort flew just wide while Mohamad Mahdi’s pass to Mohammed Kdouh was just slightly ahead of the forward.
Brunei Darussalam’s defensive improvement came to a halt in the 68th minute when Fashya could only palm Mahdi’s strike into the path of Barouk, who slotted the rebound home from close range.
Further strikes from Barouk (81st), Ralph Imad (84th) and a penalty from Wissam El Awad (88th) completed Lebanon’s strong start to their campaign.
