Second-half salvo seals Iran win

AFC – Two second-half goals steered Iran to a 2-0 win over Bahrain in their opening Group A match of this year's AFC U-16 Championship at Pakhtakor Stadium on Saturday.

After a goalless first half, Iran opened the scoring in the 72nd minute through Rayam Sadeghian before Kaveh Rezaei sealed the win with only seven minutes left on the clock.

Iran had the first chance in the game after 12 minutes when Bahram Dabbagh sent a cross from the right that was headed by Rayam Sadeghian past advancing goalkeeper Ahmed Abdulrasool.

However, the ball slammed against the left upright before Bahrain midfielder Hussain Jalil cleared the ball to safety.

Bahrain continued with their defensive tactics as they spent most of the first half in their own area and their only chance came after 20 minutes when Sayed Dhiya Saeed shot went directly into the hands of Iran goalkeeper Iman Sadeghi.

Iran continued their dominance in the remaining minutes of the first half and should have opened the scoring shortly before the half-hour mark when Mehrdad Yeganeh sent a cross from the left that was met with a first-time shot by Rezaei, but the ball went wide.

Afshin Esmaeilzadeh fired a powerful effort from outside the area that went inches above the crossbar after 34 minutes and soon after Dabbagh’s shot went wide.

Iran’s pressure carried on into the early minutes of second half and they nearly scored after 55 minutes when Sadegh Pourmohammaddoust played a free kick from the left that was headed over the crossbar by Dabbagh.

Iran’s pressure eventually paid off in the 72nd minute when Sadeghian made his way past three Bahraini players before firing home from a tight angle.

Iran had a chance to double their advantage three minutes later when Rezaei latched onto a pass from Sadeghian and lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Abdulrassol but the ball went over the crossbar.

However, Rezaei eventually scored with seven minutes left on the clock as he received the ball from a quick attack before beating the advancing Bahrain goalkeeper with a shot from outside the area.

Rezaei had a chance to score his second goal of the night and the third for Iran after 85 minutes as he had only the goalkeeper to beat but his shot went into the side netting.