Asian Cup Round of 16 Match: Rogic Goal the Difference Between Australia and Palestine

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Round of 16 Match: Australia v Palestine

Rogic Goal the Difference Between Australia and Palestine

January 17th, 2020

Australia 1 Palestine 0

 

Tom Rogic scored for Australia just before the hour mark to secure a Quarter Final spot in the Asian Cup.

 

Australia brought Mathew Leckie and Massimo Luongo into the starting eleven, while Palestine swapped their two main men up front.

 

Palestine looked the more dangerous of the two, before Australia worked down the right wing to no avail. James Jeggo looked dangerous as Leckie worked in a position behind him. Jeggo had the first real attempt on goal, though it travelled straight to the Palestinian goalkeeper, Rami Hamada.

 

Adam Taggart then brought out the best in Hamada, though he should have chipped the goalkeeper, choosing instead to try and power the ball home.

 

Palestine then ruffled Australia’s formation and gave Mohammed Darwish a real shot on goal, only to bring Mathew Ryan into play. From the resulting corner, Islam Batran gained the ball off a header challenge and out-turned Ryan, only to send his shot across the face of goal.

 

Australia then had a few attacking plays, only to not locate the final man poised to strike, whether it be Taggart, Jeggo or Tom Rogic. Down the other end, Yashir Pinto, having swapped into a more attacking midfield role, needed the closing pressure of Ryan and the back four to stop him from scoring.

 

Having won a corner, the Socceroos could have scored, only for Aziz Behich to miss to the right of goal.

 

Scoreless at the break, something special from either side was needed. Craig Goodwin came on for Luongo at the break, a move that would soon prove pivotal.

 

Palestine needed steely defence early in the second half as Australia attacked hard down the right wing as before. Then, Palestine countered, with Pinto in a great position. He tried to chip Ryan, only for the Australian goalkeeper to get enough purchase on the ball to parry it away.

 

Tom Rogic, instead, scored in the 58th minute after a defensive error, with Hamada providing a poor pass. It was Goodwin who managed to slide-pass the ball to Rogic, who easily won in the one-on-one battle, and nailed the ball under the armpit of Hamada and into the back of the net.

 

Palestine worked back into the game, seeking the equaliser, mainly through one-two passes. However, they struggled to gain the ball in dangerous spots, and thus saw them exit at the Round of 16, while Australia will play the winner of Iran and Afghanistan.

 

Important aspects of the match:

Australia had 55% possession.

 

Australia’s best: Ryan in goals with four saves, Trent Sainsbury in central defence, Milos Degenek in central defence with three key intercepts and two clearances, Behich at left back.

Taggart with two shots on target.

Jeggo with most passes overall.

Rhyan Grant with most dribbles overall.

Tom Rogic with two key passes as well as his goal.

Goodwin with four intercepts, mainly when Palestine tried cutting back into the midfield.

Aaron Mooy with three key intercepts and a clearance.

 

Palestine’s best: Darwish at left midfield with equal most passes for Palestine as well as a key pass, three key intercepts and a clearance, Abdellatif Bahdari in central defence with most tackles for the match, three key clearances and an intercept, Mohammed Yamin at right midfield with two key intercepts and two clearances.

Pinto with two shots on target.

Sameh Maraaba and Batran with equal most passes for Palestine.

Musab Battat with most successful dribbles for Palestine.

Mohammed Rashid with two key intercepts and two clearances.

Mousa Farawi with three key clearances and two intercepts.

Abdallah Jaber with three key clearances and an intercept.