Hossain strikes late to deny hosts at 10

Hong Kong’s hopes of taking a significant step towards qualifying for the Asia Cup finals were dealt a blow today after Bangladesh equalized late to draw 1-1 at the Kai Tak Stadium.
Matt Orr’s first-half penalty gave the hosts the lead, but Hong Kong defender Oliver Gerbig’s 76th-minute sending-off put Ashley Westwood’s side on the back foot and they were unable to hang on, with Rakib Hossain equalizing six minutes from time.
The stalemate means Hong Kong remain top of Group C, but they could be overtaken by Singapore if they win in India later today.
It was a disappointing result for Hong Kong, which was cheered by a passionate crowd of more than 45,000 people.
The fans did their best to breathe some life into a barren first half, with the away team happy to keep the ball but unable to make much progress against a Hong Kong side who appeared tigerish in the press.
Kazi’s mistake gives Hong Kong the lead
The breakthrough finally came in the 36th minute, but not thanks to Hong Kong’s creativity.
Bangladeshi defender Tariq Kazi miscontrolled a ball in his own area and, trying to recover, only managed to bring down Fernando. Orr stepped forward and slotted perfectly into the right corner.
The hosts seemed quite content to maintain their lead, with visiting goalkeeper Mitul Marma rarely tested.
Hong Kong came closest to adding a second when Fernando fired a shot into the roof of the net after more sloppy defensive work from Bangladesh.
Fahamedul Islam should have leveled things but somehow managed to miss his spot-kick in front of goal, but Bangladesh received more encouragement when Gerbig received a second yellow card for a poorly timed tackle on Saad Uddin.
Bangladesh surged forward and got their reward late on when Islam nodded a cross towards goal and Hossain was on hand to score.