AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023/ Palestine, UAE Play out 1-1 Draw

Doha, January 18 (QNA) -  The United Arab Emirates and Palestine played out a 1-1 draw in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
    Having been reduced to 10 men after 37 minutes, the UAE sat deep and defended resiliently and goalkeeper Khaled Eisa delivered a Man of the Match performance against an avalanche of Palestinian attacks, with the Whites taking their tally to four points, while Palestine got their first point of the campaign, the AFC website reported.
    The two sides exchanged half-chances in the early proceedings as the rain poured on, with Zeid Qunbar's looping header forcing an awkward save from UAE goalkeeper Khaled Eisa, while Emirati left-back Abdullah Idris hit the side netting after sneaking behind the Palestinian defence.
    The first goal of the night arrived midway through the opening period through Sultan Adil who lost his marker and rose highest to head home Ali Saleh's cross from the right flank, the 19-year-old getting his second AFC Asian Cup goal, having also opened the scoring against Hong Kong, China.
    Having started on the bench in the first match, forward Oday Dabbagh was a constant menace to the Emirati defence, and his efforts produced a penalty for Palestine after he was brought inside the box by Khalifa Al Hammadi. Following a VAR check, the referee also brandished a red card for Al Hammadi.
    Tamer Seyam stepped up to take the penalty, but the effort from the PT Prachuap forward who had scored Palestine's only goal against Iran was impeccably saved by goalkeeper Eisa. With the Whites reduced to 10 men, head coach Paulo Bento took off winger Fabio Lima and introduced defender Khalid Al Hashemi.
    Palestine came within inches of opening the scoring in added time of the first half when Musab Al Battat's fast and low cross from the right took a touch off an Emirati defender and clipped the hand of Eisa before being cleared off the goal-line by Al Hashemi.
    With Palestine piling the pressure at the start of the second half, Saleh found plenty of space behind the defence to latch onto Adil's nodded pass and he advanced into the box, but his powerful strike from a narrow angle was saved by goalkeeper Rami Hamada.
    Five minutes after the restart, the Emirati defence yielded under the pressure and Palestine got their equaliser when a whipped Seyam cross from the left was inadvertently headed by defender Bader Nasser into his own net.
    Goalkeeper Eisa showed his exceptional qualities with a string of fine saves, first diving to deny Mohammed Saleh's powerful header following a Seyam corner, then keeping his composure to save Dabbagh's attempt from close range.
    Both teams end their group stage on Tuesday, with the UAE facing Iran at Education City Stadium while Palestine play Hong Kong, China at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in the simultaneous kick-off. (QNA)