Asian Cup: Socceroos beat Syria 3-2 in Al Ain

After beating Syria in a cracking match, the Socceroos qualify for the round of 16. But the win didn’t come without a fright or two.

Tom Rogic (C) celebrates his side’s second goal. Picture: Getty

Australia’s defence of the Asian Cup remains on track after they beat Syria 3-2 in a cracking match in Al Ain.

Goals from Awer Mabil, Chris Ikonomidis and man of the match Tom Rogic were enough to give the Socceroos all three points. They finish second in the group stage and qualify for the round of 16.

The win didn’t come without a fright or two.

Australia took the lead just before half time through a wonderful strike from Mabil but the lead last just 90 seconds as Syria equalised.

The Australians dominated most of the second half and were rewarded when Ikonomidis scored. They could have had another couple as the Syrians started to wilt.

But, the match took another twist following a laughable decision from the referee to award the Syrians a penalty. Replays showed that two Syrians collided in the box with no Australian near them.

Al Soma converted from the spot to make it 2-2 and left a very nervous 10 minutes for the Australians, who needed just a draw to go through, to hang on.

Syria pressed hard for a third goal but it was Rogic, who produced a fabulous performance, who had the last say, drilling a left foot shot from outside the box into the back of the net to give Australia a deserved win

The two sides went in to the break level at 1-1 in what was a real game of cat and mouse.

The Syrians were excellent in the first 30 minutes, pressing the Australians and giving them very little room to move.

Aziz Behich of Australia challenged by Mahmoud Almawas of Syria. Picture: Getty

They had the first chance of the game on 13 minutes when Al Soma headed over the bar and seconds later had another opportunity only to see their shot go wide of the left post.

Australia’s first opportunity came on 22 minutes when Rhyan Grant delivered a lovely cross into the box. Jamie Maclaren escaped his marker but headed wide from close range. He should have done better.

Socceroos fans had their hearts in their mouths when Syria had the ball in the back of the net on the half hour only for the referee to disallow it for a foul on Mark Milligan.

After their slow start the Socceroos started to come into the match in the final 15 minutes of the half with Tom Rogic having far more influence.

It took a superb piece of individual brilliance from Mabil to finally crack open the stubborn Syrian defence minutes before half time. He received the ball wide on the right, cut back inside near the penalty area then unleashed a wicked, curling left footer into the top left hand corner of the net.

However, joy turned to disappointment as the lead lasted just two minutes.

Syria attacked down the left and a cross found Khrbin, whose header was superbly saved by Maty Ryan only for the ball to fall back at Khrbin’s feet for him to lash it home from close range.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold went into the match with just the one forced change to the side that beat Palestine 3-0.

And it was no surprise that Milligan was moved from the midfield into the centre-back role to replace the suspended Trent Sainsbury. Massimo Luongo, who came on as a substitute against Palestine, was promoted to the starting XI, filling the gap left by Milligan.

It was the sensible decision from Arnold as the versatile Milligan has played plenty of football as a defender and was strong in that area during the World Cup finals in Russia last year.

Otherwise, the line-up was pretty much predictable given the importance of the game. With so much on the line, Arnold wasn’t about to muck around with the line-up that did so well last Friday.