Palestine beats Sri Lanka 5-0 to keep U23 Asian Cup hopes alive
Palestine's rout of Sri Lanka opens a narrow path to qualification provided the team beats Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
In spite of the 5-0 scoreline, Palestine 5-0 rout of Sril Lanka was anything but a walk in the park. Al-Fida’i got off to a perfect start with Khaled Abu El-Haija scoring a thunderous free kick in the fifth minute.
Ten minutes later, Mohammed Sandouqa nearly doubled the scoreline after being sent through on goal. Sri Lankan goalkeeper Ahmad Shareef pulled off a fantastic double save to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
As the first half wore on, Sri Lanka’s tactical plan started to bear fruit. Palestine did not hold onto the ball well and an aggressive Sri Lankan press started generating turnovers in problematic areas of the pitch. Sri Lanka had to clear looks at goal in the first half and a path back into the match.
Palestine got the second goal at the right time scoring off a corner kick five minutes into the second half. In the 58th minute, Sri Lanka were reduced to ten men following Mohammed Faadhil’s challenge on Qais Taha.
Taha, who came on in the second half, found himself on the score sheet after his cross from the left evaded everyone in the box hit the right post and bounced in.
In spite of the numerical advantage, the floodgates did not open for Palestine and the issues that plagued the Olympic Team in the first match were on display here. Namely, a complete lack of ideas in the attacking third.
In spite of their shortcomings, Palestine scored two crucial goals in the match’s dying embers. Substitute Ibrahim Abu Illan scored the fourth bundling home a header after Oday Hassoun’s initial effort hit the post. The fifth goal came off a break with Hassoun slotting home from close range.
Palestine’s goal differential is now level with Uzbekistan’s who beat Sri Lanka 4-0 on MD1. Uzbekistan meet hosts Kyrgyzstan later today which will have far reaching implications on Palestine’s hopes in the group. With Kyrgyzstan owning the tiebreaker- Palestine do not control their own destiny but have ensured themselves of playing a meaningful match on Tuesday.