Sebastian Quintana put Qatar ahead at Al Sadd Stadium after only five minutes and although the Uruguayan-born striker later missed a penalty, the home side appeared set for victory when Abdulla Marzooq was dismissed nine minutes before the break after picking up his second yellow card.

But it was the visitors who scored midway through the second half as Abdulla Fatadi gave Bahrain a valuable point in the Group One encounter.

"This is the time for us to evaluate what went wrong for us," said Fossati.

"I am sad the way my players played the second half as they relaxed too much after playing such a great match in the first half.

"We have to be disciplined. We can't relax in matches like these. We gifted away an easy point to Bahrain and I am not happy with that.

"We were the better team. We played with a lot of spirit in the first half. Relaxing in the second half was a big mistake."

Bahrain coach Milan Macala owed a debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Seyed Mohammed Jaafar, who kept his side in the match by stopping Quintana's penalty.

"I think I owe a thank you note to our goalkeeper who saved a penalty for us and kept us in the match," said the Czech.

"I think Qatar put us under tremendous pressure in the first half. They showed their good experience and put us under pressure but we responded really well.

"So, you can say I am satisfied with our performance. What really pleased me was the spirit my players showed on the pitch.

"It was not an easy match. I think we scored a very, very important goal as far as our campaign is concerned. Thank God for that"