Ali Mabkhout - as was the case against Malaysia last month - was the star of the night with a hat-trick as he became the UAE's all-time topscorer with 54 goals. Khalil Ibrahim and Tareq Ahmed were the other scorers at Al Maktoum Stadium as the West Asians moved to the top of the standings.

The UAE had labored to a 2-1 victory in Malaysia and looked to kickstart their campaign with a strong performance in Bert van Marwijk’s home debut. Meanwhile, having conceded three goals in each of their previous two games, the night was all about damage limitation for bottom-placed Indonesia.

Vietnam broke the deadlock at the stroke of half-time through Nguyen Quang Hai as the 2018 AFF Cup champions added three points to the one they had collected against Thailand in a 0-0 draw on Matchday One.

It was Malaysia's second consecutive defeat after having fallen 2-1 to United Arab Emirates on Matchday Two, having opened their campaign with a 3-2 win over Indonesia.

The Continent's 40 teams will only have a few days to recover before Matchday Four comes along on Tuesday, with another 16 matches scheduled.

Karim Ansarifard scored four, Sardar Azmoun three, Mehdi Taremi and Mohammad Mohebi two each with Ahmad Noorollahi, Hossein Kanaani and Mehrdad Mohammadi also on the scoresheet as Team Melli took another step towards qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Yusuf Abdurisag’s first-half goal and a late strike from Karim Boudiaf helped seal all three points for Sanchez’s charges on a night when, despite the damp conditions, they maintained their push to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

With a crucial trip to second-placed Oman looming large on Tuesday, the Spanish tactician was left in doubt as to the importance of the victory following a job well done for 2019 AFC Asian Cup winners at Dhaka’s Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The Galatasaray full-back netted his side’s third goal in a comfortable win over their East Asian rivals after Takumi Minamino had given Hajime Moriyasu’s side the lead and Maya Yoshida doubled the home team’s advantage.