China beats Maldives to stay alive
Print Edition
A JIANG Ning hat-trick kept China’s faint World Cup hopes alive as big guns Australia and Japan blasted towards Russia 2018 with good wins yesterday.
Jiang, who plays at Hebei China Fortune alongside Ezequiel Lavezzi and Gervinho, powered China to a 4-0 home victory as it chases Group C’s second spot in the penultimate round of games.
Australia had little trouble beating Tajikistan 7-0, with Nathan Burns and Tom Rogic both scoring twice, while Leicester City’s Shinji Okazaki sparked Japan’s 5-0 win over Afghanistan.
Lee Jeong-hyeop spared already-qualified South Korea’s blushes with an injury-time winner as the host labored to a 1-0 win over Lebanon in Ansan.
And former Tottenham Hotspur coach Harry Redknapp’s interim stint with Jordan got off to a flying start with an 8-0 win against an outclassed Bangladesh in Amman.
Jiang settled any Chinese nerves in Wuhan when he struck in just the 3rd minute, before the lead was quickly doubled by Yang Xu in the 12th.
Jiang’s goals in the 84th minute and injury time added gloss for China, which nevertheless looks out of the running for the next round ahead of Tuesday’s Group C finale against unbeaten Qatar.
Eight group winners and the four best-performing second-placed teams will reach the third round of World Cup qualifying, and seal a spot at the 2019 Asian Cup into the bargain.
In Adelaide, midfielder Massimo Luongo set Australia on its way to what was the Asian champion’s biggest win under coach Ange Postecoglou.
Luongo struck with just two minutes on the clock before skipper Mile Jedinak added a penalty to put the host 2-0 up.
Another penalty by substitute Mark Milligan and second-half doubles from Burns and Rogic completed a comfortable outing for Australia, which now goes into a top-of-the-table clash with Redknapp’s Jordan.
“These games can become difficult, we knew they would sit off (in defense) but having such a quick start and scoring the goal it was just a matter of time before they capitulated,” Postecoglou said.
Redknapp went one better than his Australian opposite number as Jordan put eight past Bangladesh, with a Hamza al-Dardour first-half hat-trick.
Meanwhile, Japan needed Okazaki, one of the men behind Leicester’s inspirational Premier League season, to shake it out of its torpor after a sluggish start in Saitama.
Okazaki handed Japan a lead two minutes before half-time before Hiroshi Kiyotake, Maya Yoshida and Mu Kanazaki joined him on the scoresheet, along with an Afghan own goal.
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