It wasn’t pretty and they were made to work harder than expected, but the Socceroos remain unbeaten in their Asian World Cup campaign after a 3-0 win over Tajikistan in Dushanbe.
Although they totally dominated the game, the Australians nonetheless were given a tough battle in grinding out the three pints to maintain a 100 per cent winning record after three games of the group stage.
At the halfway stage of the second round of qualifiers, they are top of the table and looking good to go through to the third and final stage.
A goal from Mark Milligan (57th minute) and a double from captain Tim Cahill (73rd and 90th minutes) were enough to seal an important victory in tough conditions. The game was played on an artificial pitch while the temperature was 30C.
The Australians were expected to win this in a canter and few Socceroos fans expected the halftime scoreline to be 0-0. But, they finally managed to get it together in the second 45 minutes.
Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou made three changes to the side that thumped Bangladesh 5-0 in Perth last week. Not surprisingly, Tim Cahill came into the XI after starting from the bench last week in order to keep in fresh what was viewed as a tougher assignment in Dushanbe.
Cahill replaced Nathan Burns, while Matt McKay came into the midfield for Tommy Rogic, who was the star of the win against Bangladesh.
It was clear that Postecoglou did not want to take too many risks with Rogic, who has fought his way back from serious injury.
The other change saw Ryan McGowan come in for Tarek Elrich at rightback.
While the Socceroos dominated large chunks of the first half, they just could not find a way past a resolute Tajikistan defence that defended as if their lives depended on it.
Not surprisingly, the home side often had every player behind the ball and relied on the Socceroos losing possession and then breaking quick in the counter attack.
The Australians didn’t help their own cause by failing to get their game together in the final third of the field. They just couldn’t get it right with the final pass, which was often overhit.
The Socceroos failed to create any real chances, though Cahill had a few headers got wide.
Probably their best opportunity came on 29 minutes when Massimo Luongo had a close range header batted away by the keeper. The ball then fell to Mathew Leckie just outside the box but his first-time shot was cleared off the line.
With the home crowd roaring them on, Tajikistan eventually got themselves into the game and made several forays deep into the Australian half.
They managed to create some nervous moments, forcing the Australian defence to scramble on a number of occasions.
Tajikistan’s best moment came on 43 minutes when Vasiev forced goalkeeper Adam Federici into a save but the statistics told the story of Australia’s domination of the first 45 minutes: 15 shots to three and nine corners to one.
It was more of the same in the second half as Tajikistan continued to frustrate the Socceroos but the breakthrough finally came after 57 minutes as a result of one of many corners for the visiting side.
The ball was swung into the box and hit a defender on the back before falling at the feet of Milligan, who toe poked it over the line.
And the game was as good as over when Cahill made it 2-0 with a finish from close range, tapping the ball home after great lead up work from Ryan McGown down the right flank.
It was the veteran striker’s 40th goal for Australia in his 85th international.
He rounded off the evening with a trademark header to seal a good night’s work for Postecoglou and his men.
source:theaustralian.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 