KSA beats UAE 3-1 in World Cup qualifier, moves to top of Group B

Saudi Arabia moved to the top of Group B with an emphatic win over the United Arab Emirates in Jeddah on Tuesday.
The Emiratis kept the Saudis at bay for the best part of an hour but the floodgates opened when Fahad al-Muwallad broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute.
Nawaf al-Abid then added a goal in the 79th minute before the hosts wrapped up their third win in four matches with a strike from Yehya al-Shehri in injury time.
The win takes the four-time World Cup participants to 10 points, two clear of Australia in second.
United Arab Emirates is fourth in the group with six points, one point behind Japan.

China coach resigns after loss to Uzbekistan
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Uzbekistan dealt China a 2-0 defeat, dashing the giant’s dreams of automatic qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
The loss forced China coach Gao Hongbo to resign as the nation was left with just one point from four games in Asia’s third round of qualification.
“I spoke with the heads of the Chinese Football Association before the match and we agreed if we couldn’t reach a positive result against Uzbekistan I would stand down from my post,” said Gao.
Marat Bikmaev and Otabek Shukurov scored a goal each in Tashkent as Uzbekistan outclassed the visitor, which lost 1-0 at home to Syria five days previously. China has only ever appeared at one World Cup, in 2002.
Despite the poor record on the international stage, there has been massive investment in Chinese soccer in recent years.
Clubs in the Chinese Super League have spent over $400 million on foreign players in 2016 alone. South American stars such as Hulk, Alex Teixeira, Ramires and Jackson Martinez have helped Shanghai SIPG, Jiangsu Suning and Guangzhou Evergrande challenge at home and in the Asian Champions League.
High-profile coaches such as Luiz Felipe Scolari, Sven Goran Eriksson and Manuel Pellegrini have also lifted the international profile of the league.
Yet despite the massive investment from the private and public sector — the government is also focusing on youth development — the standard of the national team will take longer to improve.
Nations such as Syria and Iraq, which are not allowed to play games at home due to security concerns, have collected more points in qualification.
The top two of the six teams in Groups A and B will qualify automatically for the World Cup, with the two third-place teams going to a fourth-round match to decide which of them makes the intercontinental playoffs.
Here are other results on Tuesday:
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AUSTRALIA 1, JAPAN 1
A second-half penalty from Mile Jedinak earned Australia a draw against Japan in Group B though the Socceroos drop into second in Group B, two points behind leader Saudi Arabia.
Genki Haraguchi had put Japan ahead in the sixth minute after a mistake from the Australian backline, but the Hertha Berlin forward gave away a penalty early in the second half with a push on Tomi Juric.
Jedinak, who plays for Aston Villa, then scored from the spot.
“We expected a reaction from ourselves and that’s what we got,” Jedinak said. “Second half we were a bit more patient, our movement was better and we put them on the back foot.”
The draw is Australia’s second in a row, following a 2-2 result against Saudi Arabia on Thursday, and leaves the Socceroos unbeaten with eight points from four games. Japan has seven points.
“I think it was two points lost,” Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic said. “But we played well and had chances to win.”
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IRAN 1, SOUTH KOREA 0,
A first-half strike from Sardar Azmoun gave Iran victory over South Korea in Tehran to move to top of Group A with 10 points.
Azmoun, 21, scored goal number 16 in just his 22nd appearance for Iran, which dominated the game in front of almost 100,000 fans at the Azadi Stadium.
South Korea, aiming for a ninth successive appearance at the World Cup, struggled to threaten and is left in third place in the group with seven points, two behind Uzbekistan in second place.
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QATAR 1, SYRIA 0
In Doha, Qatar picked up its first points in Group A with a 1-0 win over Syria.
Hasan Al Haydos scored the only goal of the game with a penalty in the 37th minute.
Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup, now has three points and climbs off bottom place in the group above China. Syria is fourth with four points.
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IRAQ 4, THAILAND 0
Mohannad Abdulraheem scored all four goals as Iraq beat Thailand for its first points in Group B.
Abdulraheem scored two goals in each half against a team that finished with 10 men after Koravit Namwiset was sent off with 20 minutes remaining.
Thailand has lost all four of its group games.

Source: Arab News