Gulf Cup: Oman 1 Qatar 2

Goals by Khalfan Ibrahim and Mohammed Al Sayed help power Qatar past Oman at the Gulf Cup of Nations, writes Ahmed Rizvi.

Goalkeeper Qassem Burhan, right, won most of his fights against Abdulaziz Mubarak, left, and the rest of the Oman team.

Qatar kept alive their hopes of reaching the Gulf Cup's knockout stages with a 2-1 win over Oman on Tuesday night.

Khalfan Ibrahim put Qatar ahead from the penalty spot in the 56th minute and Hussain Al Hadhri equalised 15 minutes later with the second penalty of the game before Mohammed Al Sayed's strike two minutes from time threw a lifeline to Paulo Autuori's team, who lost 3-1 to the UAE in the opening game.

The real architect of Qatar's win, however, was their outstanding goalkeeper Qasem Burhan, who was called into action as early as the fourth minute when he stretched his legs out to deflect Fawzi Bashir's volley, and there was little respite for him for the rest of the game.

Burhan again denied Oman in the 14th minute, leaping high to tip Mohammed Al Farsi's blistering shot over the bar and he made another good stop in the 40th minute, closing in on Abdulaziz Al Muqbali and diving to his left to deflect the shot for a corner.

The Senegal-born goalkeeper was beaten in the 50th minute but Al Muqbali was offside when he headed the ball into the net. Seconds later, he frustrated the Oman striker again, diving and punching his volley away.

Qatar's penalty came in the 54th minute for Mohammed Al Maslami's handball.

Then Oman were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute when Jumaa Darwish was brought down by Ibrahim Majid.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw, but the substitute Al Sayed sneaked in to fire home a Hassan Al Haidos free kick.

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