Action during the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar match between Iraq and Lebanon at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Doha: Iraq and Lebanon yesterday played out a 0-0 draw at the Khalifa International Stadium on Matchday Three of Group A of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar.
With both sides having not won either of their first two games, they needed a victory to make up for lost ground but a combination of superb goalkeeping and lack of clinical finishing meant they each had to settle for a point.
Three minutes into the game, Iraq’s Fahad Talib acrobatically denied Lebanon’s Alexander Michel with a fingertip save. Michel volleyed in following a corner kick which was headed down to him, before it took a deflection but the Iraqi keeper was alert early on to keep his side on level terms.
Just five minutes later, Bassel Jradi dribbled upfield and rounded several Iraqi players in the process before unleashing a shot goalwards that went marginally wide, this being the third Lebanese chance of the game in under 10 minutes.
At the other end of the pitch, Felix Melki denied Iraq’s biggest chance in the first half when a short corner was played to Bashar Resan, who in turn crossed the ball in to a heavily marked Ibraheem Bayesh who nevertheless got his header, but Melki deflected it out for another corner.
Five minutes into the second period of play, Resan majestically dribbled two-thirds of the pitch down the left flank, cut inside into the penalty area while taking on two players, before taking a tame shot with his weaker foot that didn’t threaten Mostafa Matar’s goal.
Shareef Abdul Kadhim thought he had opened the scoring after Resan chipped a cross as the former rushed towards the six-yard-box, but VAR ruled it out, with Resan adjudged to have been in an offside position when receiving the initial ball.
Iraq upped the ante following that sight of goal, with Abdul Khadim taking a chance just a few minutes later, but his shot was deflected out for a corner. Several chances fell to Aymen Hussein and Mohanad Ali, but neither came close.
Lebanon finally broke the passage of play late on, with Rabeh Ataya getting a shot after leaving defender Ali Atiyah in his wake before unleashing a low shot that Talib just about got a hand on to tip it away.
Lebanon face Syria in Amman on Tuesday, while Iraq travel to Dubai to face the United Arab Emirates to conclude their involvement in this international break.
