One-sided encounters were the flavor of the day in the AFC Asian Cup as Australia thrashed Palestine
It all started when Australia finally kicked off their campaign in a high-flying manner, thrashing Palestine 3-0 at the Rashid Stadium, Dubai. Strikes from Jamie Maclaren, Awer Mabil and Apostolos Giannou were enough for the defending champions to finally get three points on board.
For the Socceroos, the question remains on whether they can sustain this momentum to go far into the tournament? Probably. The team finally looks gelled together and their young, speedy attack consisting of MacLaren, Mabil and Tomas Rogic is finally working wonders. A dominance display as this proved why the Aussies are a force to be reckoned with and have hit their stride, they won’t be stopping anytime soon.
The question for Palestine will be is this the end of their journey? Most probably. It doesn’t seem like they have enough firepower to defeat Jordan, who should top the group. However, Palestine gave a bright showing for themselves. The Fedayeen will also question whether poor finishing killed the game for them. It definitely did, as constant misses from promising positions did no good in downing the morale of the players.
Jamie Maclaren scores Australia’s first goal in #AsianCup2019! pic.twitter.com/8wkCeuJ2AT
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) January 11, 2019
⏱ FULL-TIME | 🇵🇸 PLE 0 – 3 AUS 🇦🇺
Three goals earn the Socceroos three crucial points for their #AsianCup2019 campaign! pic.twitter.com/dJVMrTdRqE
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) January 11, 2019
The holders suffered a shock 1-0 defeat five days previously but quickfire goals from Jamie Maclaren – his first for his country – and Awer Mabil in the opening period set them on their way at Rashid Stadium before Apostolos Giannou rounded off the scoring late on.
