Sardar Azmoun’s brilliant solo goal yesterday earned Iran a 1-0 win over Qatar and a place in the Asian Cup quarter-finals alongside the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Solid Qatar defense kept Iran at bay until just after halftime in Sydney, when Azmoun’s instinctive touch and shot ended their resistance and sent a partisan crowd wild.
Carlos Queiroz’s Team Melli are now into the quarter-finals for the sixth time in a row and continue to look like strong contenders to break their 39-year Asian Cup drought.
Photo: Reuters
Noisy Iranian fans made for a festive atmosphere at Stadium Australia, but the party did not get going on the pitch as the three-time champions struggled to break down a resilient Qatar side.
Rubin Kazan forward Azmoun, a former target of Premier League giants Arsenal and Liverpool, was in the thick of the action and had a header saved early on.
The Qatar defense also reacted sharply to smother another promising chance, when Ashkan Dejagah picked out the young striker in the box.
As halftime beckoned, Morteza Pouraliganji had a header cleared off the line and the busy, Qatar-based Dejagah cut in from the right and fired across the face of goal.
Iran looked to be running out of ideas until Azmoun lit up the Sydney evening and ignited the crowd with his fabulous touch and score at 52 minutes.
When former Fulham man Dejagah picked out Azmoun on the edge of the box, the 20-year-old still had much to do to evade the attentions of defender Abdelkarim Hassan.
However, in a moment of supreme quality, he dragged the ball between his legs and into space in the box, before sweeping it into the bottom right-hand corner.
Azmoun’s joy was short-lived and he was stretchered off and limped to the bench on the hour-mark, as Qatar threw on Khalfan Ibrahim, the player the country calls “Maradona.”
However, the diminutive Ibrahim was unable to turn the tide and instead it was Iran who had chances on the counterattack.
In a late scare, Ali Asadalla Thaimn hit Iran’s post with an injury-time header, but the effort was offside and Queiroz sank to his knees in joy as the final whistle blew.
Earlier, UAE striker Ali Mabkhout scored after 14 seconds in one of the fastest goals in Asian Cup history to propel his side toward a 2-1 win over Bahrain.
The Group C victory in Canberra marked the first time UAE have won their opening two matches at the tournament, qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Omar Abdulrahman clipped a superb ball over the top of Bahrain’s defense and Mabkhout calmly controlled it with his right foot, before slotting past goalkeeper Sayed Abbas with his left.
It was Mabkhout’s third goal of the Asian Cup after a double in UAE’s opening 4-1 win against Qatar on Sunday, making him the tournament’s top scorer.
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