Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates put their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign back on track on Thursday evening as Ali Mabkhout’s double helped Mahdi Ali’s side secure a 3-1 win over Thailand.
The two-time Gulf Cup champions bounced back from the disappointment of their 1-0 loss against Australia last month to pick up their second win of the campaign following their opening day win against four-time Asian champions Japan.
Mabkhout claimed a goal in each half as the UAE collected all three points against a Thailand side that scored their first goal of the campaign when Tana Chanabut netted in the 65th minute before Ahmed Khalil put the result beyond doubt in injury time.
Tana’s goal was not enough to spark a full scale come back for Kiatisuk Senamuang’s side, who have now lost three games in a row despite several encouraging displays by the South East Asian champions.
“The result went in our favour but the players made things harder on themselves, especially in the first half when they missed several scoring chances and more goals would have made things easier for us in the second period,” said Ali.
“After scoring the second goal, our performance dropped and the players relaxed. However, Thailand’s goal affected us negatively and we had to make some changes in order to put more strength in the attack and stop the threat of our opponents.”
The Thais threatened as early as the 11th minute when Krirkrit Thaweekam’s low cross from the left skidded across the penalty area, only for Mongkol Tossakai to narrowly miss making a connection, and that early scare shook the UAE into life.
Three minutes later the hosts had taken the lead when Omar Abdulrahman started a move on the right that released Mohammed Fawzi to send over a low cross that skimmed off Salem Saleh before being slotted in at the far post by Mabkhout.
Soon after the Al Jazira striker almost doubled his side’s lead, only to head his close range effort against the bar while Saleh saw a later attempt easily saved by Kawin Thamsatchanan. And with seconds remaining in the half, the UAE went close again when Abdulrahman steered his low curling effort wide of the target.
Two minutes into the second half, however, the UAE went further in front. Abdulrahman’s first time ball forward curled perfectly into the path of Mabkhout and the striker drove towards goal before slamming his shot beyond the wrong-footed Kawin.
Tariq Ahmed almost added a third in the 55th minute, only for Kawin to push the ball to safety and, 10 minutes later, the Thais pulled themselves back into the game when substitute Tana, who had just replaced Mongkol, registered with a fine finish across UAE goalkeeper Majed Nasser and inside the far post.
The Thais pushed forward looking for the equaliser and, in the dying seconds, paid the price when Mabkhout broke before rolling the ball to Khalil, who received a return pass from Abdulrahman before stroking his shot home.
“The UAE’s early goal changed our tactics for the night and it distracted the players, who lost their concentration,” said Kiatisuk. “However, we made some substitutions in the second period and made some tactical changes and those changed the situation in the match.
“We tried our best to stop the threat of the UAE players but they had the upper hand even though we were close to scoring an equaliser. The substitutions we made fixed our performance and hopefully we can improve things in the next matches.”
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