Socceroos Take Down China
The Socceroos welcomed China into the Adelaide Oval desperate for a win after picking up just a single point in their opening two round three matches.
Favoured in the match and with a home crowd of 46,291 behind them, it was expected that Australia would pick up their first win. The match proved difficult however, with China putting up a big fight and taking it to Australia early.
The Chinese press caused problems for the Socceroos early who were looking to work the ball around and break the press in stride moving forward.
Once they figured out how to work through the press, the Aussies were moving the ball down the wings of the pitch with aggression.
It was Craig Goodwin wreaking havoc on the right early as he earned a free kick and a pair of corners in the opening five minutes of the match.
Lewis Miller was also a positive early for the Socceroos as he followed the Goodwin blueprint pushing down the wing and getting chances to swing the ball into the 18-yard box.
20 minutes in Australia had been the team with the majority of the ball but had very little to show for it. Suddenly a long ball from China was bobbled by Thomas Deng and eventually found the feet of Zie Wenneng. The Chinese forward cruised by Souttar and Rowles and blasted a low shot past Gauci to give China the lead.
This silenced the crowd and seemingly left the Socceroos in a bit of a shock as they continued to control the ball but were moving it with much less purpose.
After finding their footing again and continuing their attacks down the wings, Australia levelled the match in added time of the first half.
This time it was Aziz Behich who won a free kick on the left hand side of the box. Goodwin whipped the ball in and Lewis Miller got his head on it to equalize.
This gave the Socceroos all the momentum coming out of halftime, and they used it to their advantage.
In the 53rd minute, Goodwin received the ball in space in the middle of the pitch and dribbled forward before blasting a shot from well outside the 18-yard box that beat the Chinese keeper.
Australia did well to hold off the Chinese attack the rest of the match. Aside from a couple dangerous looking crosses, the Socceroos were able to keep the ball out of harms way.
The insurance marker came a minute into extra time as the Chinese defenders made a mess out of a cross which ricocheted around eventually falling to Nishan Velupillay. The substitute making his debut made no mistake turning and putting the ball in the top corner to give Australia the 3-1 lead that turned out to be the final score.
Group C Standings
With the win, Australia jumps up to second place in group C. They’re tied on points with both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain but sit ahead due to goal differential.
Their next match is against group leading and Continental powerhouses Japan who have picked up three wins from three matches, scoring 14 goals and conceding none.
The matchup will be a great test for the Socceroos to see where they stand against a well-oiled machine like the Japanese. A good showing will bring belief to the squad but if they are easily defeated, question marks will arise.
The Socceroos experienced a disappointing start to the third round of World Cup qualifiers with a loss to Bahrain and a draw with Indonesia. As such, this win over China was pivotal for them to get back on track and in position to qualify for the World Cup.
