Taiwan netted two goals in the second half against a scoreless, 10-man Mongolia in Guam yesterday to win their second game of the East Asia Football Federation (EAFF) Championship qualifying tournament.
Taiwan coach Toshiaki Imai started with a 4-5-1 formation as he had in their first game on Thursday, but made five personnel changes, including resting in-form striker Wu Chun-ching in favor of Tseng Chih-wei and replacing goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung with Pan Wen-chieh.
The five midfielders did not dominate the field and boss the opposition around as they had in their impressive 8-1 victory over the Northern Mariana Islands in the previous match, with the more experienced Mongolia players fighting for every inch of territory and forcing a scoreless stalemate in the first half.
Photo provided by Chinese Taipei Football Association
The second half began with more open play, both sides having good chances in front of goal.
In the 52nd minute, Mongolia forward Bayarjargal Oyunbat was sent clear in front of goal, but goalkeeper Pan made a good save from a close-range shot.
Five minutes later, Taiwan took advantage of a counterattack, with midfielder Lin Chien-hsun collecting a long pass on the left side of box and beating two defenders and shooting into the far corner to put them in front.
In the 71st minute, the referee sent off Mongolia striker Murun Altankhuyag, judging him to have chopped down Taiwan defender Huang Wei-min during a goal-mouth scramble.
Three minutes later, Mongolia nearly scored through Oyunbat, who dribbled past the defense, rounded Pan and shot on target, only to see defender Huang Wei-min make a sliding, goal-line clearance to preserve a clean sheet.
Taiwan grabbed their second goal near the end of the game when midfielder Lin Shih-kai made no mistake on a rebound to drive into the net from right side of the box.
Taiwan face Macau tomorrow in their final game of the qualifying tournament.
In yesterday’s other result, Macau collected their first win by defeating the Northern Mariana Islands 3-1.
In the tournament opener on Thursday, Macau and Mongolia played out a 2-2 draw.
Taiwan will advance to next round of the EAFF if they beat Macau.
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