Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates kept the pressure on 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying Group A leaders Saudi Arabia after Ismail Al Hammadi and reigning AFC Player of the Year Ahmed Khalil were both on target in the Gulf side’s 2-0 victory over Palestine on Thursday.
The home side had the upper hand throughout the encounter and took the lead just after the half-hour mark when Ahmed Khalil (pictured) provided the cross for his Al Ahli team-mate Ismail Al Hammadi to put the UAE one up with 32 minutes at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium played.
And star striker Khalil, who was the joint-second top goalscorer behind Ali Mabkhout as the UAE finished third at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, made it 2-0 from the penalty spot on the hour mark as the Emiratis continued to dominate.
Palestine’s hopes of getting the win that would keep alive their slim chances of a second-place finish all but ended eight minutes later when Mohammed Darwish was sent off for a second bookable offence.
But despite playing for the remaining 22 minutes against ten men, the UAE couldn’t capitalise on the dismissal of the Al Dharia midfielder as the Al Ahli duo’s goals settled the contest.
The UAE’s fifth win of the joint qualifiers took them level with the Saudis on 16 points, albeit with the four-time FIFA World Cup participants still to play their penultimate Group A fixture against Malaysia.
Eight group winners will advance to the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, as well as straight to the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates, along with the four best runners-up.
The other four runners-up will progress to the third round of qualifying for the Asian Cup, along with all the third-placed teams and the four best fourth-placed teams.
The remaining sides will have to negotiate past two rounds of playoffs for one of the final eight spots in the Asian Cup third qualifying round.
Photo: AFP