AFC Futsal Asian Cup
Hosts Malaysia set up a tantalising Matchday Three showdown with Iran following a 7-1 victory against Bangladesh.
UAE 0-10 IR Iran
Iran, who sailed 12-0 past Bangladesh in the opener, only needed 30 seconds to find the back of the net through Behrooz Azimihematabadi, who gained possession from a poor back pass before slipping the ball home.
UAE tried to assert themselves but lost their momentum after Iran capitalised on a counter-attacking move in the seventh minute which saw Mahdi Karimi curling his effort into the top left corner from above the box.
Despite the Emiratis best efforts to contain the men in red with Hamad Hassan Alblooshi forcing Iran keeper Mahdi Rostami into a save a minute later, Amirhossein Dehghani made it 3-0 seconds later after converting Azimihematabadi’s corner.
Iran maintained control through their high-press and increased their tally in the 12th minute through Masoud Yousef Shavardazi before Hossein Tayebibidgoli etched his name on the scoresheet a minute later following another counter-attacking move.
Shavardazi then netted from a 10-metre penalty in the 18th minute before Hossein Sabzi gained possession from the right flank to set up Ali Khalilvand Somehsofla for a simple tap-in.
Iran were relentless after the break with goals from Azimihematabadi (23rd), Rostami (28th) and Shavardazi (29th) sealing the emphatic win.
Bangladesh 1-7 Malaysia
Faris Muhammad went close for Malaysia in the fourth minute after seeing his backheeled effort deflected by Bangladesh keeper Jahid Rabbi while at the other end, Syukri Syaifuddin came off his line to foil Mahadir Khairuddin’s charge.
The home side came close again a minute later with Ridzwan Bakri seeing his shot saved by Rabbi before beating the shotstopper seconds later only to be denied by the left post.
Malaysia finally took the lead in the eighth minute after Awalluddin Nawi found space at the top of the arc to nail a piledriver into the back of the net.
Their joy was short-lived as Bangladesh responded moments later with Fayed Azim finding the net from the left flank off a power-play sequence.
Malaysia restored their lead in the 15th minute with Syahir Khan finishing a fine counter-attacking move and then seeing his long range effort take a deflection off Mahadir before nestling in the back of the net two minutes later.
Bangladesh took the risk of playing the power play at the start of the second half but their plan came undone in the 23rd minute after Syahir struck from his own half into an unattended goal mouth.
Nawi netted Malaysia’s fifth with a solo effort in the 28th minute. Saad Sani struck from the left flank in the 35th followed by Harith Naim’s effort seconds later to complete the deserved win.
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