Palestine play out Asian Cup draw with 10-man UAE

Updated: Jan 18, 2024, 08:17 pm

Palestine held 10-man United Arab Emirates to a 1-1 draw in their Asian Cup Group C match at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday after Sultan Adil's opener was cancelled out by an own goal.

UAE took the lead in the 23rd minute when Adil scored with a leaping header, but their hopes of an easy contest thereafter went up in smoke when Khalifa Al-Hammadi received a red card for a foul on Palestine forward Oday Dabbagh.

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The UAE centre-back was guilty of holding and then pulling Dabbagh down in the box, and he was sent off after a VAR review. However, Palestine's Tamer Seyam took a tame spot kick which was saved by UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa.

But with UAE down to 10 men, Palestine took the game to the 2019 semifinalists and their persistence was duly rewarded five minutes into the second half when Bader Abaelaziz headed a cross into his own net to make it 1-1.

However, Palestine were unable to make the extra man advantage count as their wait for a first win in the Asian Cup since their 2015 debut continues.

UAE are still top of Group C with four points while Palestine are third with one point. Second-placed Iran (three points) face bottom side Hong Kong (no points) on Friday.