At 19:30 on January 15th, Beijing time, South Korea faced Bahrain in the first round of Group E of the Asian Cup. In the first half, Cao Guicheng missed a good opportunity. Li Zaicheng assisted Huang Infan and scored a goal. Ma Ning showed five yellow cards at halftime. At the end, South Korea 1-0 Bahrain. In the second half, Hash Sash equalized with a push shot, Lee Gang-in scored twice, and Son Heung-min missed two single shots. In the end, South Korea got a good start with 3-1 Bahrain.
In the 38th minute of the game, South Korea broke the deadlock. The Korean team set the ball quickly. Lee Zaicheng made a cross from the left in the penalty area. Huang In-beom pushed the ball from behind and scored. South Korea 1-0 Bahrain. In the 51st minute, Bahrain equalized the score. Hitting the wall in the frontcourt to cooperate, Madan's shot in the penalty area was blocked, and Hash Sash pushed and scored near the penalty spot. South Korea 1-1 Bahrain. In the 56th minute, South Korea took the lead. Kim Min-jae passed a diagonal pass from the left to Lee Gang-in, took the ball in the middle and cut in with a long shot to score the goal, South Korea 2-1 Bahrain. In the 69th minute, the South Korean team expanded the score. On the counterattack opportunity, Huang In-beom made a diagonal pass from the middle. Lee Gang-in dunked the defensive player in the penalty area and shot into the far corner. South Korea 3-1 Bahrain.
In this game, referee Ma Ning showed 7 yellow cards, the most in a single game since the start of this Asian Cup, including 5 in the first half. In stoppage time, Son Heung-min fell to the ground in the Bahrain penalty area and the referee blew the whistle. Ma Ning signaled Sun Xingmin to dive and decisively showed him a yellow card.
Well-known commentator Huang Jianxiang commented on Ma Ning's penalty during the game: "The Chinese team's match against Lebanon was enforced by the Korean referee team. It should be blown, but it must be blown well!"
[Source: Jiupai News Comprehensive]
