Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Ali Ahmed Mabkhout needed just 14 seconds to put the United Arab Emirates ahead as they went on to beat Bahrain 2-1 and secure a rare Asian Cup quarter-finals appearance.

With the Group C encounter meandering towards a 1-1 draw, Bahraini captain Mohamed Hasan deflected a 73rd minute free-kick from Amer Abdulrahman into his own net to hand the UAE a second Gulf derby victory in Canberra following their opening 4-1 win over Qatar.

Iran also stormed into the quarter-finals on a wave of passionate support with a 1-0 win over Qatar in their second Group C match.

Striker Sardar Azmoun scored the only goal in the 52nd minute to send the vast majority of the 22,672 crowd home happy and three-times champions into the last eight for the sixth straight Asian Cup.

Qatar, who had come into the tournament with high hopes after winning the Gulf Cup at the end of last year, failed to get a shot of note on target and will now go home after their final group match against Bahrain on Monday.

*AP