JEDDAH: Rakan Al-Ghamdi struck late as Saudi Arabia edged a plucky Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in their AFC U23 Asian Cup Group A opener on Tuesday.
For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
Debutants Kyrgyzstan, reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute, looked on course for a point after goalkeeper Kurmanbek Nurlanbekov had saved Musab Al-Juwayr’s penalty but Al-Nassr’s Al-Ghamdi struck in the 88th minute as 2022 champions Saudi Arabia got off to a winning start.
Both sides went on the offensive from the start with Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Radif sending his effort from outside the box high as early as the second minute, while Beknaz Almazbekov had his shot from distance blocked two minutes later.
The hosts began to assert their dominance before suffering a setback in the 13th minute when captain Abdullah Radif was subbed off due to injury with Majed Abdullah taking his place.
