Al Qah'tani steers Saudis into last four

Abu Dhabi: Yasser Al Qah'tani scored a 13th-minute penalty which ultimately turned out to be the match-winner and steered Saudi Arabia to the semifinals of the Gulf Cup as group leaders while sounding the death-knell for 10-man Iraq.

Saudi Arabia will now take on the UAE in one semifinal while Oman meet Bahrain in the other semifinal.

The Saudi-Iraq match lived up to its tag as the clash between joint leaders and full credit to the Iraqis, who matched the Saudis move for move despite playing with a man short for 50 minutes.

Saudis did dominate, but took the lead when Iraqi goalkeeper Noor Sabri baulked striker Al Qah'tani and the highly-rated striker scored again off the spot.

Iraq, playing without their star striker Younis Mahmoud and midfielder Nashat Akram, however gave the Saudis a tough time with their counter-attacks.

However, the large band of Iraq supporters were stunned when referee Ali Hamad flashed the red card at Haider Aboudi Hantoush after the Iraqi brought down Al Qah'tani outside the box in a one-to-one situation.

After the break, Iraq never allowed the sending off to affect them and started on a purposeful note, using the long pass to good effect.

But when the final whistle was blown the Iraqis took some time to realise they were ousted as Bahrain's goal in the other match came in the 90th minute.