Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong: Hong Kong remained second in Group C of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers with a resilient defensive display denying a dominant China in Tuesday goalless draw at the Mongkok Stadium.
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Yang Xu was denied his eighth of the qualifiers when the Shandong Luneng striker hit the crossbar just before the half-hour mark before the woodwork came to China’s rescue shortly after when Bai He headed Brazil-born forward Sandro’s cross from the right against the bar.
The hosts had the ball in the net 13 minutes after the interval only for the effort to be ruled out following a foul on China keeper Wang Dalei but it was the visitors that dominated the second half and came close to scoring, with Yu Dubao hitting the post after Hong Kong keeper Yapp Hung Fai had superbly kept out the Beijing Guoan striker’s initial effort from point blank range.
China piled on the pressure as they sought the victory that would see them go level with Hong Kong on 13 points and almost snatched the late win only for 81st minute substitute Bi Jinhao to head against the crossbar shortly after the Henan Jianye forward had replaced midfielder Wu Lei.
The stalemate sees Hong Kong take their points tally to 14, four behind Qatar who guaranteed top spot in Group A thanks to their 2-0 victory over Bhutan. China, meanwhile, trail Hong Kong by three points but have a game in hand over Kim Pan-gon’s side.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
Photo: Hong Kong Football Association