A 10-man Socceroos have stuttered out of the blocks in their opening third-round AFC Asian Qualifier as they fell to a dismal 1-0 loss to Bahrian on the Gold Coast.
An 89th-minute sucker-punch in the form of a Harry Souttar deflected own-goal gave Bahrain a surprise and perhaps undeserved win, but Australia were little better in a horror start to the vital phase of World Cup qualifying.
Australia were five yards off the mark all day and punished by Abdulla Alkhalasi’s cross which Souttar threw a boot at and wrong-footed Mat Ryan at his near post to give Bahrain their first-ever win over the Socceroos.
It came after Kusini Yengi was handed an early shower, the striker sent off for a clumsy high boot which scraped Sayed Baqer’s chin and resulted in a red card with a little over 10 minutes to go.
Australia were looking for a fast start in their opening game of the third phase of qualification, but were sluggish as Bahrain sat deep and frustrated the hosts.
The Gold Coast is renowned for its theme parks, but there were few thrills after Alessandro Circati’s deflected shot was tipped over the bar in the second minute.
Ryan looked rusty early, the goalkeeper looking to dust out the cobwebs by coming all the way out to the edge of the 18-yard box to claim a high ball, with Bahrain attacker Ali Maden collateral damage as the goalkeeper went airborne – fortunately, the Video Assistant Referee did not intervene.
From there, the game settled into a familiar and unsatisfactory manner as Bahrain sat deep and with Australia’s midfield unable to break through between the lines, their defenders pinged long diagonal balls into the corners to little effect.
Bahrain had their moments as Mahomaed Marhoon showed a few moments of genuine class, and only the desperate efforts of a recovering Aiden O’Neill after he was dispossesed in midfield prevented the visitors from grabbing the opener.
Craig Goodwin was Australia’s most dangerous outlet in the first-half, delivering several menacing low crosses from the left, including one in which Yengi turned past the post from close-range in what was the best chance of the opening 45.
The Socceroos’ first-half was best encapsulated by Connor Metcalfe in stoppage time, the midfielder left to gesture frustratingly at team-mates with no viable forward runs.
For all the possession and territory Australia enjoyed, it was not resulting in goals, or even attempts on target, and frustration seeped into the crowd in the second-half.
Some of that was mainly through the play-acting, melodramatic antics of the visitors, with Circati seeing yellow for an innocuous challenge on Marhoon which had the Bahraini rolling around like he had caught fire as tempers began to flare.
The arrival of Nestory Irankunda off the bench breathed some life into both the game and the crowd, the Bayern Munich prodigy winning a free kick with his first dribble and beating his opponent with his second.
Yengi’s dismissal after he flicked a boot hopefully at a high ball but accidentally caught Baqer only added fuel to the fire, the defender’s reaction arguably helping referee Omar Mohamed Al-Ali make up his mind.
A goal seemed less and less likely, with tame attempts by Jackson Irvine and Irankunda easily dealt with by Ebrahim Lutfalla in goal, before Souttar’s unfortunate own-goal up the other.
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