Bahrain 5-2 India

AFC – DOHA, Four goals from Ismaeel Abdulatif guided Bahrain to a 5-2 win at Al Sadd Stadium on Friday and confirmed India’s exit from the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™.

Faouzi Aaish gave Bahrain after six minutes but India levelled three minutes later through Gouramangi Singh.

Abdulatif got his first of the night in the 19th minute and added another goal three minutes later before completing his hat-trick ten minutes from the interval.

India reduced the deficit seven minutes into the second half through Sunil Chhetri but Abdulatif regained his side’s three-goal cushion for Bahrain with 13 minutes remaining.

India had made a bright start to the game and had created the first chance after three minutes when Climax Lawrence delivered a cross for Chhetri, but his volley was superbly pushed away for a corner by keeper Mahmood Mansoor.

But it was Bahrain who opened the scoring three minutes later when they were awarded a penalty after Lawrence brought down Aaish inside the penalty area and the latter picked himself up to fire home from the spot.

The Bahraini celebrations for that goal had only just subsided when India levelled as Abishek Yadav directed a header from a long cross for Gouramangi Singh, who stabbed home from close range.

However, the goals continued to come as Bahrain restored their lead in the 19th minute when an Aaish cross struck the legs of Subrata Paul and the ball fell for Abdulatif, who made no mistake when faced with the empty net.

Abdulatif scored again three minutes later when Jaycee John made a good run on the right before delivering a low cross into the area for Abdulatif to turn home.

And it was 4-1 10 minutes before the break with Aaish again the architect as the midfielder played a smart ball for Abdulatif to chase on to and fire beyond Paul.

India started the second half as they had the first and they pulled a goal back seven minutes after the break when Renedy Singh’s shot struck the underside of the crossbar and though it appeared to cross the line, Chhetri headed home a rebound after Yadav had also hit the woodwork.

An impressive performance on the pitch was soured for Aaish when he was shown a second yellow card just after the hour before Abdulatif completed the rout for Bahrain with his fourth in the 77th minute, driving home from the edge of the area.