Syria justified their top billing by teaching Kyrgyzstan a footballing lesson and thrashed them 4-1 in the ONGC Nehru Cup on Tuesday.
Syria justified their top billing by teaching Kyrgyzstan a footballing lesson and thrashed them 4-1 in the ONGC Nehru Cup here on Tuesday.
Syria’s second successive convincing win confirmed that they will be the team to beat in the five-nation tournament.
Syria had defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in their first match and the performance at the floodlit Ambedkar Stadium on Tuesday was a considerable improvement on that.
The winners found the net through Maher El Sayed (7th minute), Zyad Chaabo (44th), Mohammed Alzeno (70th) and Abraheim Al Hasan (82nd).
Own goal Ironically, Kyrgyzstan’s sole success came through an own goal by Ali Dyeb.
Syria is the team ranked higher among the two and it showed in the opening exchanges as the West Asians were faster out of the blocks.
They took an early lead when skipper Maher El Sayed took advantage of a faulty clearance to rifle home a right footer in the bottom left hand corner past custodian Kashuba Valeri.
It seemed that the goal would open the floodgates for Syria who began a series of raids. But Kyrgyzstan got back in the match in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Lack of cohesion A ball from Kornilov Roman seemed destined for the arms of Syrian goalkeeper Mowssab Blahowss, but a horrible lack of communication with Ali Dyeb resulted in the full back finding the back of his own net in an attempt to clear the ball for a corner.
The equaliser could have given a real boost to the Central Asians, but Syria showed their class and were back in front just before the break.
A pinpoint cross from Mohammed Alzeno found the head of Zyad Chaabo who turned it into the net without any trouble.
The second half was almost a one-sided affair with Syria literally toying with their opponents.
They could have increased the lead on several occasions but had to wait till the 70th minute to extend the lead.
Man of the match al Sayed found Alzeno got a lovely through ball and kept his cool in front of the goal to slot home with ease.
Syria put the finishing touches to a good evening's work with a nice piece of teamwork in the final 10 minutes.
Sayed fed Alzeno was on the right edge of the box but the resultant shot was well blocked by Valeri.
However, the ball fell invitingly into the path of the onrushing Al Hasan who made no mistake.
Smart save
Syria could have scored more but a rasping shot from Chaabo off a pass from Alzeno was saved by Valeri from a one-on-one situation.
Kyrgyzstan's only genuine chance came late in the game when Roman found Sidorenko Pavel inside the box but the goalbound shot was saved by a diving Zeen Alabeden Al Fandi.
