Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kaohsiung: Chinese Taipei booked their place in the group stages of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 on Tuesday evening as a second consecutive 2-1 win over Timor-Leste earned them a 4-2 aggregate win over the South East Asian side.
Chen Yi-wei gave his side the perfect start when he put Chinese Taipei in front after just 10 minutes, leaving Timor-Leste with a mountain to climb and Chen Hao-wei scored 15 minutes from time to put the visitors out of their misery. Jose Maria Oliveira claimed a late consolation for Timor-Leste.
"I am happy to win the game and have the chance to play again in this tournament next year,” said Chinese Taipei coach Toshiaki Imai. "I felt we should have scored more in the first half, but overall it was a better performance than in the first game, so I am satisfied."
After claiming a narrow 2-1 win in the first leg, Chinese Taipei began on the front foot, winning a series of free kicks in promising positions early on.
Their pressure was rewarded in the ninth minute when a free kick midway into the Timor-Leste half was dinked into the box. It was chested down by the first-leg hero, Wu Chun-ching, who had time and space to lay it back to the unmarked Chen Yi-wei on the edge of the box. The Chinese Taipei captain made no mistake as his side-footed drive went in off the right-hand post with goalkeeper Ramos Maxanches stranded.
As the half wore on, Timor-Leste began to win more possession and looked to play balls in behind the Chinese Taipei defence, but the hosts continued to present a threat on the counterattack, with Wen Chih-hao seeing his effort cleared off the line by defender Nelson.
The second half began in a scrappy manner with both sides struggling to retain possession and stamp any authority on proceedings.
But by the midway point, Timor-Leste, needing two goals, were forced to push on in search of a breakthrough and this inevitably left more gaps at the back which Chinese Taipei looked to exploit.
It looked like a second goal would never come but, in the 75th minute, Chinese Taipei finally put the tie to bed as a contest.
Toshiaki Imai’s side broke forward again with Chen Chia-chun laying the ball into the path of Wu on the right hand side. His deep cross to the far post found substitute Chen Hao-wei unmarked, and his header was directed down towards the keeper’s feet and found its way into the bottom corner.
Not to be deterred, Timor-Leste kept piling forward in search of the goals they needed. They were rewarded in the 85th minute as Rufino Walter Gama jinked past his man on the left flank before playing in substitute Jose Maria Oliveira, who dropped his shoulder before passing the ball into the corner of the net.
But that was to be as good as it got for Timor-Leste who lost 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.
"Congratulations to Chinese Taipei,” said Timor-Leste coach Fernando Alcantara. “We were not in the game in the first half and I didn't recognise my team, but we were better in the second half. Chinese Taipei are tall and played a lot of long balls. If we were a bit taller we might have had more success dealing with this.
"But we had a lot of young players in the side today. Six of the players that finished were under-19 so it is a great experience for them and I am proud of their performance."