Jeddah: Saudi Arabia maintained their three-point lead over the United Arab Emirates at the top of Group A of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers after second-half goals from Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Taiseer Al Jassam secured a 2-0 win over Malaysia on Thursday.
The UAE had kept the pressure on the Saudis by defeating Palestine 2-0 in Thursday’s earlier Group A fixture to go level on 16 points ahead of the Green Falcons’ penultimate Preliminary Round 2 match.
But with the joint-qualifiers leading scorer Al Sahlawi netting his 13th of the campaign five minutes after the interval at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium (having also been on target in the away fixture against Malaysia which was abandoned due to crowd trouble before the Saudis were subsequently awarded a 3-0 win) and veteran midfielder Al Jassam adding a second with quarter-of-an-hour remaining, Bert van Marwijk’s side restored their three-point advantage over their Gulf rivals with one round of matches remaining.
The UAE will host Saudi Arabia on Tuesday looking to avenge the 2-1 defeat they endured when the two West Asian giants met in Jeddah back in October while Malaysia will be hoping third-place Palestine will not lose to bottom-of-the-table Timor Leste in the other Group A encounter.
If the Timorese can pick up their first win of the joint-qualifiers in Hebron next Tuesday then they will finish with five points, one more than Malaysia, who ended their campaign with four points after the curtain came down on the 2010 ASEAN champions’ disappointing campaign with Thursday’s defeat to the Saudis.
Eight group winners will advance to the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, as well as straight to the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates, along with the four best runners-up.
The other four runners-up will progress to the third round of qualifying for the Asian Cup, along with all the third-placed teams and the four best fourth-placed teams.
The remaining sides will have to negotiate past two rounds of playoffs for one of the final eight spots in the Asian Cup third qualifying round.
Malaysia end World Cup qualifying campaign with 2-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia defended resolutely for 45 minutes before cracking in the second half to go down 2-0 to Saudi Arabia in their final 2018 World Cup qualifier in Jeddah on Thursday. Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Taiseer Al Jassim scored after half-time as Malaysia ended their qualifying campaign with a third successive defeat in Group A. Saudi Arabia, ranked 60th in the Fifa world rankings and under the tutelage of Dutchman Bert Van Marwijk, remain top of standings with 19 points, three ahead of the United Arab Emirates, 2-0 winners over Palestine in an earlier match. Malaysia stay in fourth place on four points with Timor Leste bottom on two points but having a game still to play against Palestine on Tuesday. National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee gave Australia-born midfielder Brendan Gan his senior international debut while full-back Azrif Nasrulhaq Badrul Hisham started for the first time in his second appearance. Fadhli Shas, who has only made two starts for Johor Darul Ta'zim this year, surprisingly lined up alongside clubmate Aidil Zafuan Radzak in central defence while captain Safiq Rahim and Baddrol Bakhtiar packed the midfield behind lone striker Amri Yahyah. The game was mostly played out in the Malaysian half but it was not until 20 minutes that Khairul Fahmi Che Mat was forced into a smart save when the goalkeeper got down low to palm away an Abdulla Al Dossary volley. Malaysia, a lowly 167th in the rankings, suffered an injury blow five minutes later when centre-back Aidil had to go off and replaced by Shahrom Kalam, the Selangor captain going on for his second cap. Fahmi was called into action again on 35 minutes to deny Al Sahlawi, the Asian zone's top scorer with 14 goals, before Safiq had a go from distance, which sailed over, in Malaysia's first attempt at goal. Just before the break, Fahmi came to Malaysia's rescue again with a fine save from Abdulmalek Al Khaibri's pile-driver before Gan put in a timely block when the ball broke loose for Omar Ibrahim Othman with the goal gaping. Saudi Arabia struggled to break down the Malaysian defence for over 70 minutes the two teams first met in Shah Alam on Sep 8 last year but it took them just five minutes after half-time to get through this time. Salman Al Faraj played the ball behind the Malaysian defence and Salman Muwashar's strike was only blocked by Fahmi as far as Ah Sahlawi for the easiest of finishes. Quick thinking by Yasir Alshahrani released Al Jassim to squeeze a shot through Fahmi's legs for the second goal in the 74th minute. Malaysia made rare forays into the Saudi half but never tested the home team goalkeeper Khalid Sharahili.
Malaysia end World Cup qualifying campaign with 2-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia defended resolutely for 45 minutes before cracking in the second half to go down 2-0 to Saudi Arabia in their final 2018 World Cup qualifier in Jeddah on Thursday. Mohammed Al Sahlawi and Taiseer Al Jassim scored after half-time as Malaysia ended their qualifying campaign with a third successive defeat in Group A. Saudi Arabia, ranked 60th in the Fifa world rankings and under the tutelage of Dutchman Bert Van Marwijk, remain top of standings with 19 points, three ahead of the United Arab Emirates, 2-0 winners over Palestine in an earlier match. Malaysia stay in fourth place on four points with Timor Leste bottom on two points but having a game still to play against Palestine on Tuesday. National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee gave Australia-born midfielder Brendan Gan his senior international debut while full-back Azrif Nasrulhaq Badrul Hisham started for the first time in his second appearance. Fadhli Shas, who has only made two starts for Johor Darul Ta'zim this year, surprisingly lined up alongside clubmate Aidil Zafuan Radzak in central defence while captain Safiq Rahim and Baddrol Bakhtiar packed the midfield behind lone striker Amri Yahyah. The game was mostly played out in the Malaysian half but it was not until 20 minutes that Khairul Fahmi Che Mat was forced into a smart save when the goalkeeper got down low to palm away an Abdulla Al Dossary volley. Malaysia, a lowly 167th in the rankings, suffered an injury blow five minutes later when centre-back Aidil had to go off and replaced by Shahrom Kalam, the Selangor captain going on for his second cap. Fahmi was called into action again on 35 minutes to deny Al Sahlawi, the Asian zone's top scorer with 14 goals, before Safiq had a go from distance, which sailed over, in Malaysia's first attempt at goal. Just before the break, Fahmi came to Malaysia's rescue again with a fine save from Abdulmalek Al Khaibri's pile-driver before Gan put in a timely block when the ball broke loose for Omar Ibrahim Othman with the goal gaping. Saudi Arabia struggled to break down the Malaysian defence for over 70 minutes the two teams first met in Shah Alam on Sep 8 last year but it took them just five minutes after half-time to get through this time. Salman Al Faraj played the ball behind the Malaysian defence and Salman Muwashar's strike was only blocked by Fahmi as far as Ah Sahlawi for the easiest of finishes. Quick thinking by Yasir Alshahrani released Al Jassim to squeeze a shot through Fahmi's legs for the second goal in the 74th minute. Malaysia made rare forays into the Saudi half but never tested the home team goalkeeper Khalid Sharahili.
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