India’s valiant defensive performance in the first half was undone in style by Australia, which opened its AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign with a 2-0 win at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium here on Saturday.
Jackson Irvine scored in the 50th minute while super-sub Jordan Bos got his first international goal to double the lead 23 minutes later.
Australia started its attack from the word go, with its first shot coming within six minutes of kick-off – Mitchell Duke’s left-footed strike flying off-target.
Though the match remained all square till half-time, the Indian defence was left chasing shadows after the restart, with Irvine finding the net within five minutes.
As Gurpreet Singh Sandhu got his hand out to push Martin Boyle’s cross from the right, the ball fell to the Aussie midfielder, who chested it and shot it into the net past a rooted Nikhil Poojary.
Graham Arnold decided to shuffle his pack, bringing on Bos for Craig Goodwin, who had been heavily marked and thus nullifying his ability to deliver his menacing crosses, in the 72nd minute.
Bos, who usually plays as a left-back was deployed as a left-winger and when Riley McGree’s cross from the right arrived, he made no mistake in the box, beating Poojary and tucking it home within one minute of being subbed on.
India, on the other hand, had its moments too. It ticked a lot of boxes in the defensive department, largely playing with one-touch triangular passes, keeping a solid mid-block, and, at times, pressing with three players against an opponent with the ball, when out of possession.
Stimac would be relieved to find some balance in the defensive midfield area, with Deepak Tangri filling in for the injured Jeakson Singh like a duck to water on his senior international debut.
India’s best chance of scoring came in the 16th minute when Poojary side-stepped his marker to whip in a cross for Sunil Chhetri, whose flying header went just off-target and thousands of Indian fans in the stadium heaved a cold sigh along with the Indian forward in the same breath.
Stimac’s side would find solace in its impressive first-half defensive exhibition, which will come in handy against its next opponent, Uzbekistan, which it plays five days later. Australia, on the other hand, will look to hunt down its next prey in Syria, on January 18.
Match result: Australia 2 (Jackson Irvine 50’, Jordan Bos 73’) bt India 0.
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