Bahrain hold Iran to a second goalless draw [VIDEO]

PFDC – KUWAIT CITY, Iran and Bahrain played out their second WAFF Cup match to a goalless draw; Iran lacking the vital win to comfortably advance to the next round.

The two Persian Gulf Nations’ last notable clash was in 2011 when Iran first thrashed Bahrain 6-0 in a World Cup Qualifier before playing out a 1-1 draw in Manama. Before that the two teams met in the last edition of the WAFF Cup, when the Persian’s prevailed by three goals.

Iran’s B team displayed the first minor threat of the match when Hassanzadeh’s strike went straight the keeper’s hands, giving him no problem at all.

Bahrain’s pressure was consistent, but the match shifted tides at the 25th minute when Qatari ref Dosari gave Tayeb Al Alabi his marching orders for diving in the penalty area.

Six minutes before the half, Mehrdad Oladi sent an impressive strike from outside the ’18 just wide.

Team Melli came close right after the restart when Mehrdad Oladi’s strike from a counter attack was blocked by a crucial last second tackle from Jassim Ahmed.

In the 61th minute, Oladi’s header was in the back of the net, although the Kuwaiti referee’s flag was rightfully up, signalling for offside.

Iran’s best oppurtunity of the match erupted when Yaghoub Karimi’s nailed the side post after being one on one with the Bahraini keeper.

With seconds remaining, a large blunder from Iran and Rubin Kazan keeper Alireza Haghighi almost resulted in a goal, although the Bahraini forward failed to finish on an empty goal.

Team Melli will go head to head against Yemen on Saturday to snatch a crucial three points at the Al-Sadequa Walsalam Stadium in Kuwait City, which would be too little to advance though, should the Saudi Arabia clash against Bahrain on the same day not end in a stalemate.

Iran – Bahrain 0-0
WAFF Championship 2012, Kuwait City

Goals: None

Iran: Haghighi – Khanzadeh, Montazeri, Khalilzadeh, Pouladi – Milad Nouri, O. Ebrahimi, Hajsafi (46′ Y. Karimi) – Hassanzadeh (42′ Sadeghian), Oladi, Nazari (76′ Dehnavi)

Watch the highlights on PFDCTV:

1st Half:

2nd Half: