HONG KONG: Japan handed Saudi Arabia a 2-0 defeat in Jeddah on Thursday as Hajime Moriyasu’s side continued their march towards the World Cup with a third consecutive win in Asian qualifying that moves the Samurai Blue five points clear at the top of Group ‘C’.

Asia’s top-ranked side took the lead on 14 minutes in front of more than 56,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports City, when midfielder Daichi Kamada finished from close-range following good work from Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma.

Substitute Koki Ogawa headed in Junya Ito’s corner nine minutes from time to secure the points.

The win moves Moriyasu’s onto nine points and the Japanese have now scored 14 times in three games without conceding.

Japan have pulled clear of a chasing pack led by the Australians, who moved ahead of Saudi Arabia — managed by the under-fire Roberto Mancini — on goal difference after a 3-1 win in Adelaide over China.

While Saudi Arabia slipped to third, Japan host Australia in Saitama on Tuesday.

Indonesia, meanwhile, were denied victory by hosts Bahrain deep into stoppage time when Mohamed Marhoon scored his second of the game to earn his side a 2-2 draw with the Southeast Asians, who have now drawn their last three matches.

In Group ‘B’, Iraq joined South Korea — 2-0 winners against Jordan earlier — on seven points and trail on goal-difference as Aymen Hussein’s left-foot shot in the 31st minute secured Jesus Casas’ team a 1-0 win over Palestine.

The group other match saw, Oman easing to a 4-0 win over Kuwait in Muscat to move off the bottom with Abdulrahman Al Mushaifri scoring twice for Rashid Jabar’s side.

Elsewhere, Asian champions Qatar won their first game of the third round with a 3-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan to draw level with the UAE on four points as Paulo Bento’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by North Korea.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2024