Iran defeated Iraq 1 -0 in Muharraq Stadium in Bahrain to qualify for the next round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The goal was scored by Sardar Azmoun in the first half from a perfect diagonal pass from Ehsan Hajsafy.
In a match that started with lots of stress on both teams, the first 20 minutes of the match was more like street football with many loose passes, poor tackles, and as expected much theatrics and grass rolling by the Iraqi players.
Team Melli however, was quite strong against the Iraqi midfield who had just one player that could slice the Iranian defenders in Bashar Resan. However, he was tightly controlled to minimize any threats from him which isolated Iraq’s lone forward Muhand Ali, and rendered him ineffective.
The goal scored by Azmoun was a beauty in all sense of the word. A long cross-field pass from Gholizadeh who spotted Hajsafy run on the left flank, the captain controlled the ball, run a few meters, and sent a diagonal immaculate pass to the onrushing Azmoun to slot home. A classical finish by Azmoun.
IN the second half, with Iran still in control, the Iraqi’s run out of steam as they hardly created any serious threat to Beiranvand. ON the other hand, Team Melli had at least 5 scoring chances for scoring all wasted because the shoots were directed at Jalalk Hassan’s body. It started with Azmoun who received a glorious pass from Taremi, similar to the goal against Bahrain. Azmoun shot into the Iraq goalkeeper. Then it was Aligholizadeh’s turn who wiggled past all the Iraq defenders and was facing Jalal Hassan, but his timid shot was gladly collected by the keeper. The true miss of the match must be the last-second ball after some great work by Kaveh Rezaei to give Ghaedi a perfect chance to score from meters away. The substitute missed too and spoon after that the referee whistled for the end of the game.
Although Iraq hardly created any threat, it was like a cesarian win for Team Melli. The starting lineup was far from perfect and a close analysis of the match will show Skocic that there are quite a few things that need revision and improvement on the team.
In Any case, Iran well deserved this win and will join the 11 other qualified teams in the third round.