Saudi Arabia beat nine-man Kyrgyzstan to move into Asian Cup knockouts

Saudi Arabia qualified for the Asian Cup knockout stage after they beat Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 in a one-sided Asian Cup group game on Sunday at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium where two Kyrgyz players were sent off for reckless fouls.

The result moved Saudi Arabia to six points at the top of Group F while Thailand are two points behind in second after they drew 0-0 with Oman (one point) earlier on Sunday. Kyrgyz Republic are bottom after losing both their games.

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Kyrgyz Republic had a nightmare start to the game when Aizar Akmatov saw red for a high boot on Sami Al-Naji. The Kyrgyz defender was initially cautioned but received a straight red after VAR intervened and the referee watched the replay.

"The two red cards were correct. You have to play football and not kick [the opponents]. We would have preferred to play 11 versus 11," Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini told reporters.

"We missed many chances to score today. But if we score two goals every game then I'm happy. I'm happy with my players."

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Saudi Arabia took time to make their possession and man advantage count but after several opportunities to open the scoring, they finally made the breakthrough in the 35th minute when Mohamed Kanno turned in a cross at the far post.

Kyrgyz Republic's night went from bad to worse when Kimi Merk was sent off in the 52nd minute for a reckless challenge on Hassan Al-Tambakti where he caught the defender on the ankle, with VAR intervening again after the midfielder was only cautioned.

Kyrgyz Republic went into damage control and attempted to thwart wave after wave of Saudi attacks, but Faisal Al-Ghamdi doubled their lead with a long-range strike that slipped through the gloves of goalkeeper Erzhan Tokotayev in the 84th minute.

But Faisal Al-Ghamdi doubled their lead with a long-range strike that slipped through the gloves of Tokotayev in the 84th minute, leaving him crestfallen on the turf.

"What do I say? To play against Saudi Arabia is difficult. After the second red it was just a question of the score," Kyrgyz Republic coach Stefan Tarkovic said.

"It was very bad receiving two red cards. From my perspective we showed spirit, they fought for the result, for their country. They fought till the end."