AFC - Qatar moved a step closer to the knockout rounds of the AFC U23 Championship on Friday with an impressive 2-1 win over Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium that sees them take command of Group A.
Ahmed Alaa and Abdelkarim Hassan claimed a goal in each half to secure all three points for Felix Sanchez’s side and leave Iran – who missed a penalty through Roozbeh Cheshmi – needing to win their final group game against China on Monday.
Ali Karimi scored on the stroke of full-time for Iran, but it was not enough to deny the Qataris a deserved victory.
Ali Asad was, as expected, included in the starting line-up after shining when he was introduced from the bench in Qatar’s opening 3-1 win over the Chinese and he impressed once again in an enthralling midfield battle the Qataris eventually won.
The home side claimed their rewards for their increasing dominance in the 34th minute when Akram Afif’s quick feet allowed him to clip his pass behind the Iranian defence and into the path of Alaa (pictured), who slipped his shot between Mohammadreza Akhbari’s legs to score.
Five minutes before the interval, Asad went close to doubling Qatar’s advantage, only for Akhbari to palm his shot from the tightest of angles away to safety while with seconds remaining in the half, Arsalan Motahhari headed Iran’s first chance of the game over the bar.
Motahhari carried Iran’s principal threat and, five minutes into the second half, the Naft Tehran forward forced Muhannad Naim into action, firing off his effort from a tight angle that the goalkeeper pushed out of harm’s way.
Qatar, though, always looked the more likely to score and, in the 55th minute, Afif caught the Iranian defence on their heels as his pace continued to cause problems, only for Mohammad Khakpour’s team to concede a corner.
From the resultant set piece, though, Qatar doubled their lead when Hassan expertly lost his marker before side footing Ahmad Moein’s centre into the bottom corner.
Motahhari continued to push forward for Iran, twice going close with headers before being brought down in the area by Ahmed Yasser, who gave Malaysian referee Mohd Amirul no option but to point to the spot.
Iran captain Cheshmi, however, saw his attempt from 12 yards saved by Naim, with the goalkeeper diving to his right to push the ball to safety.
Substitute Milad Kamandani sent his rising shot from the edge of the area just over the Qatari crossbar with eight minutes remaining before Karimi finally found the back of the net in the 90th minute when he raced in and slotted the ball past Naim but it was too little too late for Iran.
NEXT MATCHES:
January 18: Qatar v Syria
January 18: Iran v China
