On April 17th, Saudi Arabia U23 hosted Tajikistan U23 in the 1st round of the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup, with Rajan Hamid scoring, Haitham Asiri scoring and Ayman Yahya scoring twice. Tajikistan U23 Ruslan-Khailoev scored and Soylov scored. Final score Saudi Arabia U23 4-2 Tajikistan U23.
At the beginning of the match, Saudi Arabia showed a strong desire to attack, and they firmly dominated the possession of the ball on the field, while Tajikistan was more focused on defense, looking for the right moment to counterattack. In the 42nd minute of the first half, the Saudis finally broke the deadlock. They attempted a long-range shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball was deflected by Hamid Ghamdi's heel as it traveled and flew into the Tajikistan goal. Saudi Arabia took a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Tajikistan tried to change the situation on the field through personnel adjustments, but Saudi Arabia's attack continued unabated. In the 49th minute, the Saudis broke through to the left side near the end line and created a threat through an inverted triangle pass. Although the first point player failed to touch the ball, but behind the back of the ball Aiman Yahya directly into the air shot, the ball should be sound into the net, Saudi Arabia to extend the lead 2-0.
Then, Saudi Arabia's offense became more and more fierce. In the 67th minute, Ammar broke through with the ball on the right side of the Saudi team, and his shot from a small angle was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper, but Haitham Asiri easily added a shot into the net in front of the goal, giving the Saudi team a 3-0 lead.
However, Tajikistan did not give up. They scored twice in the closing stages of the match through a cross, and Halbi scored twice in a row, but the Saudis didn't panic, and continued to look for a breakthrough.
In the final moments of the game, Saudi Arabia created a penalty kick opportunity in the penalty area, and Latif hit the penalty kick to seal the win for Saudi Arabia. In the end, Saudi Arabia won the match 4-2 against Tajikistan.
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