Syria 0-1 Australia: Irvine's second half strike sees Aussies advance to the last 16
Australia defeated Syria 1-0 on Thursday to maintain their perfect record in Group B, with midfielder Jackson Irvine scoring his second goal of the tournament to seal the victory.
After a scoreless first half, Irvine gave Australia the lead again, having scored the opening goal in their 2-0 victory over India in their first group game.
The victory moved Australia up to six points, while Syria is third with one point from two games. Uzbekistan is second with four points after defeating India 3-0 on Thursday at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Syria had started on the front foot, cheered on by their fans, and the Middle Eastern side nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Pablo Sabbag hit the post.
However, Australia quickly settled down and took control of the game, with the majority of the action taking place in Syria's half and they had a chance from a corner when Gethin Jones headed the ball to the far post, but Irvine was unable to convert.
However, Irvine made no mistake in the 59th minute, collecting the ball on the turn inside the box and poking it past keeper Ahmad Madanieh to silence the Syrians, who constituted the majority of the 10,097 fans inside the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Minutes after taking the lead, Mouaiad Al-Ajaan unleashed a long-range strike that nearly landed in Ryan's own net, but he recovered quickly to grab it before it crossed the line.
Syria tried their luck from a distance several times, but Australia held firm and kept a second clean sheet.
Syria face India in their final group match on Tuesday, while Australia face Uzbekistan, who extended their unbeaten streak over India to seven games with a comfortable victory -- their fifth in a row against the south Asian side.
Uzbekistan took a 2-0 lead after 18 minutes thanks to goals from Abbosbek Fayzullaev and Igor Sergeyev, who took advantage of India's sloppy defence.
Sherzod Nasrullaev added a third in first-half overtime, tapping in from his own rebound off the post to put the game out of reach.
SportsLigue