(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
CHANGZHOU: Mohammed Jaffal, Amjed Attwan, Alaa Mwahi and Hussain Ali all found the back of the net for the Iraqis as the inaugural champions made a flying start to life in Group C of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup yesterday.
The clock had barely clicked past the five-minute mark when the Iraqis took the lead, Hamzah Adnan's pace taking him beyond the Malaysian defence before he cut back a lofted ball that Jaffal headed firmly home.
Malaysia sought to steady themselves after the early set-back and Ong Kim Swee's side slowly gained a foothold but, by the 28th minute, their good work was undone as Iraq doubled their advantage.
The Southeast Asian side's defence failed to adequately clear Jaffal's free-kick into the area and Attwan surged past the defence before unleashing a low shot that slipped beyond the grasp of goalkeeper Ifwat Akmal.
By now Iraq were in complete control, even as the Malaysians made the occasional foray into their opponents' territory. Safawi Rashid's long range free-kick did little to trouble Ahmed Basil while Jafri Chew's attempt from inside the area was blocked by the Iraq defence.
With 56 minutes on the clock, Iraq put the result beyond doubt.
Ali had seen his effort saved two minutes before Mwahi found space behind the defence down the left side of the Malaysian penalty area and he curled his left foot shot beyond Ifwat.
Ifwat kept the Iraqis from claiming a fourth soon after when he dived to his left to parry Bashar Resan's volley to safety and, with 11 minutes remaining, the Malaysians clawed a goal back as Safawi struck with a low shot from just inside the area.
But Iraq responded almost immediately when Ali was gifted possession inside the Malaysian half by Nor Azam and he outpaced the backpedalling defenders before rounding Ifwat to score with ease.
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