Bring on the Aussies
Substitute Khalil blasts home winner against Kyrgyzstan from penalty spot in extra time
UAE fans at the AFC Asian Cup 2019 match against Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi last night. The hosts scored a winner in extra time for a 3-2 victory to earn a quarter-final place against Australia on Friday.
Typically a man for the grand occasion, Ahmed Khalil proved the UAE’s rescue act once more.
Like much of this Asian Cup on home soil, the hosts scraped by, doing just about enough to see off Kyrgyzstan on a frantic night in Abu Dhabi. Somewhat fortuitously, a place in the quarter-finals is theirs.
For the majority, it was not pretty at a half-full Zayed Sports City Stadium on Monday night. The UAE lead twice and twice surrendered their advantage, the second slip pushing the match to extra time. But having been introduced late into the game, the dependable Khalil produced the goods from the penalty spot.
The UAE eked a 3-2 victory, finally dispatched the debutants to tee up a last-eight encounter against Australia. Vast improvement will be required in Al Ain on Friday, against the defending champions and in a re-run of the 2015 semi-final, but they should be thankful simply to be there. It had almost slipped away.
The UAE had been granted the perfect start. On 14 minutes, the recalled Ismail Matar’s corner was headed goalwards by Khalifa Mubarak, before Khamis Esmail directed home.
However, just like against Thailand last week, the hosts let their opponents back in. Their lead lasted 12 minutes. Discovering space had opened up, Kyrgyzstan’s Akhlidin Israilov floated a pass through to Mirlan Murzaev. The powerful forward had run off the back of Esmail and, advancing into the gap before him, rounded goalkeeper Khalid Essa to slide the ball into the UAE goal.
Both Mubarak and Bandar Al Ahbabi had skidded to clear, with the former clattering the base of the post. As Kyrgyzstan celebrated the equaliser and settled back into their rhythm, Mubarak was carried off on a stretcher.
The UAE should have reclaimed the advantage moments into the second half, but Mabkhout failed somehow to provide the finishing touch to Al Ahbabi’s run and fine cross. Nodding wide from four yards, the 2015 Asian Cup top scorer continues to struggle to live up to his star billing – despite two goals thus far.
Not long after Mabkhout’s miss, Kyrgyzstan struck the woodwork. Captain Valerii Kichin curled the ball off the UAE upright. Rooted to the spot, Essa breathed a hefty sigh of relief. Those inside the stadium did, too.
On 64 minutes, and against the run of play, the UAE went 2-1 up. Having only been introduced, Ismail Al Hammadi chased down a lost cause and the ball eventually found its way to Amer Abdulrahman, who flighted a perfectly weighted pass to Mabkhout.
This time, the Al Jazira striker made no mistake, controlling well before firing past Kutman Kadyrbekov.
As the match crawled to its conclusion, Kyrgyzstan pressed. Just when they seemed set to rue poor finishing, they struck right at the death, when substitute Tursunali Rustamov brushed home Anton Zemlianukhin’s 91st-minute corner.
In the first half of extra time, Mabkhout screwed high and wide when through on goal, then scuffed at Al Hammadi’s cross when well-placed to score. Then Khalil provided the saving touch. Mabkhout had been pulled back in the box by Bekzhan Sagynbaev, leaving Khalil to slot his penalty past Kadyrbekov, although only just. Still, Kyrgyzstan twice struck the woodwork.
That about summed up the UAE’s night, even their tournament. They stumble on.
Australia manager Graham Arnold praised the character of his players as the Socceroos held their nerve in a penalty shoot-out against Uzbekistan to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup.
The defending champions prevailed 4-2 on penalties with neither side able to break the deadlock over 120 minutes of normal and extra time at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Goalkeeper Mat Ryan successfully saved two Uzbek attempts before Mathew Leckie hammered home the decisive spot kick to send Australia through to the last eight.
“It was a very tough game, obviously,” Arnold said. “You have to give credit to Uzbekistan, who fought hard and made it difficult for us by defending so deep. We certainly didn’t expect that they would defend so deep.
“They had a lot of numbers behind the ball but our boys stuck to their game. They worked extremely hard and I’m impressed by this new team. They showed great calmness under the type of pressure.
“We had around 930 passes in the game and obviously not just to keep possession but creating opportunities. You have to give credit to Uzbekistan and we’ll learn from this.” Ryan, one of the few remaining members of the Australia side that clinched the Asian Cup on home soil four years ago, hardly had a save to make over 120 minutes of action as Uzbekistan’s cautious approach limited them to shots from range.
However, the Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper was alert when faced with the opposition from only 12 yards out, denying Islom Tukhtakhodjaev and Marat Bikmaev.
“Maty probably had a lot of energy left in the shoot-out because he had only one shot at [his] goal in 120 minutes,” Arnold said. “Mat does a lot of homework by himself and when he goes to the games, he ticks all boxes.” Ryan was called into action 10 minutes into the
Maty probably had a lot of energy left in the shoot-out because he only had one shot at his goal in 120 minutes GRAHAM ARNOLD Australia manager
game as Eldor Shomurodov burst past Trent Sainsbury to force the goalkeeper to block his close-range shot.
Australia carried little threat, with Aziz Behich registering his side’s only attempt on goal in the opening 45 minutes when he tried his luck from outside the area, but Ignatiy Nesterov had few problems.
Javokhir Sidikov flashed his long-range attempt narrowly wide of Ryan’s goal and Dostonbek Khamdamov should have done better when he was found by Shomurodov with time and space.
The Socceroos pressed in the second half, with Rhyan Grant heading over from an acute angle when Milos Degenek’s
diagonal ball found him unmarked behind the Uzbekistan defence having moments earlier sent another header into the hands of Nesterov.
Uzbekistan’s goalkeeper was now seeing all the action, and he was forced to deny Leckie, nine minutes after the Hertha Berlin winger came off the bench before pushing Tom Rogic’s deflected strike wide for a corner.
In the shoot-out, Behich saw his penalty saved by Nesterov before Tukhtakhodjaev’s attempt was kept out by Ryan, and the Australia keeper denied Khamdamov that left it for Leckie to confirm the win.
Hector Cuper, the losing manager, said he was proud of his charges after losing out in the lottery of shoot-out.
“My players did everything possible on the pitch and there’s nothing to blame on them, and I’m not looking for any excuses for this defeat,” said the Argentine.
“The only thing I didn’t like for the entire match was the first 15 minutes of the second half when we were flat. Let’s also face the fact we took on one of the best teams in Asia, and in general I’m content with the game.
“I like the discipline my team showed on the pitch. Of course, we had a lot of expectations but it had to end like this. When you go for a penalty shoot-out it’s hard to predict.”