from home. After seeing the space in front of him, he struck a savage volley towards home which was well on target but unfortunately straight to the chest of the rarely tested Jaffer.
Sensing a momentum change, Coyne was substituted for fellow centre half Jade North in the 67th minute in a move that steadied the Australian defence temporarily.
In the 69th minute, Salman Isa created room and arguably Bahrain's best chance of the game as he took possession down the left wing for Bahrain and encroached upon goal. His cross into the middle was directly into the path of John however incredibly, he missed from point-blank range.
Harry Kewell was benched and replaced by the spritely Brett Holman who injected himself into the match to set up a number of runs for Kennedy and Bresciano in the latter stages.
In the 78th minute, Kennedy again turned provider, this time for Cahill, however his glancing header into the path of the Everton marksman was to no avail as Cahill was flagged off-side in a rather unlucky call.
In the dying stages, Bahrain peppered the Australian defence with a mixture of pin point through balls which, if not for the finishing from Bahrain, could have dramatically altered the result however the Socceroos backs stood firm.
Tim Cahill was substituted in the 86th minute for Australia and looked to have been struggling with his recent foot injury upon limping to the bench where he was replaced by Mile Sterjovski.
Jaycee John was presented with a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the final minute, however a desperate lunging tackle from Jason Culina - Australia's best player on the night - stole the ball and Bahrain's momentum.
But it was to be Australia's night as in the dying seconds of injury time, an act of desperation from Schwarzer combined with a misguided clearing header from Bahrain ensured the Socceroos remain top of the table ahead of their next clash with Japan in February.
"But come February, we will need to play much better when we face Japan, because that will be a difficult match also," Verbeek said.
Bahrain 0
Australia 1 (Bresciano '93)