Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong: Ali Mabkhout scored a hat-trick as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) maintained their perfect record in Group E of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 on Tuesday evening with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Hong Kong that puts the Gulf Cup holders on the verge of qualifying for the finals in Australia.
The Al Jazira striker put the Mahdi Ali’s side in front in the 29th minute before doubling his side’s advantage 10 minutes into the second half.
And Mabkhout slotted home two minutes from time to hand Hong Kong their first defeat of the qualifiers as Walid Abbas then completed the rout on the final whistle.
“It was not an easy game,” said Ali. “Hong Kong tried to close the space in the first half but the players did well, we tried to create chances and wait for the right moment.
“We scored the first goal and then things went as we wished. I’m happy for the players and I hope we can keep the same level of performance in the next games.
“We have accomplished the third step in this qualification. We have three steps to go and we are near to qualifying, but in football you never know. When you say you will win today or tomorrow, they’re easy words to say but to win on the field isn’t so easy. We played well today and I hope that we can continue to play like this.”
The Emirates took the lead in the 29th minute when Abbas’s inch-perfect through ball into the penalty allowed Mabkhout to thump the ball into the roof of Yapp Hung Fai’s goal with an unstoppable left foot shot.
The dominance of Ali’s side told once more in the 55th minute when, after his first effort was blocked by Lee Chi-ho, Mabkhout’s second attempt again seared over Yapp’s head and into the roof of the net.
Mabkhout completed an impressive individual showing when he rolled the ball low to Yapp’s left and into the bottom corner two minute from time while.
And just seconds before the final whistle, Abbas stole in to sweep the ball into the same spot and give the Emirates a deserved margin of victory.
“It’s a very disappointing result,” said Hong Kong coach Kim Pan-gon. “Our players did well, they followed our instructions from the beginning but the UAE was a really high quality attacking team.
“If we had stopped them for the first 45 minutes it would have been better. But they’re at a different level. I appreciate what the players did and they kept fighting.
“But we still have a chance. We have three games left and we are aiming to get four points in our next three games. We need to get one point from our games before we go to Vietnam.”