Abu Dhabi: Ahmed Khalil’s thunderous first half volley helped put the United Arab Emirates back in contention for a place at the finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia as Mahdi Ali’s side secured a 2-0 win over Iraq at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.
The former AFC Player of the Year smashed home an unstoppable right foot effort in the 26th minute to put Mahdi Ali’s side on the road to all three points, moving the UAE onto nine points and level with Australia in third place in the group.
Victory was secured for the UAE thanks to an equally spectacular save by goalkeeper Ali Khaseif, who threw himself to his left to somehow keep out Mohanad Abdulraheem’s finely glanced header, before Ismail Matar claimed his side’s second deep into injury time.
Japan and Saudi Arabia are tied at the summit on 10 points as the group reaches the halfway stage.
“The match was decisive for us and that is why we took the initiative and put pressure on our opponents,” said UAE coach Ali.
“I want to thank the players for their good performance tonight that helped us to get a good victory. We did our best tonight in order to make a good comeback after the last defeat.
"Our position in the group is excellent as this win has put us close to the top since there is only one point between us and the leaders.”
The game started in feisty fashion as both sides sought to take control of the midfield, with tackles flying in from each team, while weak efforts from Khalil and Justin Meram for their respective sides rolled off target inside the opening quarter of the match.
By the 23rd minute, the UAE almost carved out the opener when Mohammed Abdulrahman laid off to his brother Omar, and the Al Ain midfielder screwed his left foot shot from just outside the area wide of the goalkeeper’s left post.
Three minutes later, however, the home side were in front thanks to a spectacular strike from Khalil.
The Al Ahli forward released Abedaziz Sanqoor down the right side and when his attempted cross was blocked by Dhurgham Ismael, Khalil stepped forward to smash his volley over the outstretched arms of Mohammed Hameed and in off the underside of the bar.
Iraq had barely stirred in the opening exchanges, but in the 34th minute they were almost level when Ahmed Yasin powered down the right before crossing to Abdulraheem and his first-time effort crashed into the side netting. Four minutes later Meram sent his attempt from the edge of the area over the bar.
Omar Abdulrahman tried his luck from long range on several occasions in the second half with little joy while the Iraqis kept the home side under pressure in an attempt to find the equaliser their increasingly dwindling World Cup hopes required.
Saad Abdulameer saw his header go wide seven minutes after the restart before, with 79 minutes on the clock, the midfielder turned provider by sending in a curling cross that Abdulraheem redirected across the face of goal, only for Khaseif to push the ball away to keep the points safe for the UAE.
Substitute Matar then converted the simplest of finishes in the fourth minute of stoppage time to send the crowd home happy.
“We didn’t have our normal performance, especially in the first half where we lost concentration while our opponents played with high spirits and a disciplined tactical performance,” said Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil.
“We tried to come back in the second half and had couple of chances but we didn’t score, Tonight things were different than in the previous matches as we didn’t have the expected performance.
"Many of our players play in the local league and we are trying to build a new team and at the same time reach the World Cup, unlike our opponents who have already a prepared team.”
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