Bahrain U-21 team beat Bangladesh 1-0 in the first semifinal of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup 2016 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium this evening.

Ebrahim Alhooti scored the winning goal for Bahrain in the 46th minute of the game.

Since a convincing 4-2 win over against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, the home side have struggled to find the target in last two matches where they played out draw against Malaysia XI and Nepal. The lack of scoring from the forwards has been the main cause of concern for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh team have been struggling to find rhythm since the SAFF Suzuki Cup where they were eliminated from the group stages with below-par performances, and the team badly needs to get back to the performance they displayed against Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan during the World Cup and Asia Cup Qualifying matches on home ground earlier last year.