Qatar take winning streak to five with Maldives rout

Qatar players celebrate after scoring the first goal against Maldives in their 2018 World Cup qualifying match held at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium in Doha yesterday. Right: Qatar coach Jose Daniel Carreno. Pictures: Anas Khalid and Noushad ThekkayilBy Joe Koraith/DohaJose Daniel Carreno is helping Qatar develop into a strong team that plays attractive football and yesterday’s 4-0 win over Maldives at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium was further proof of that. Khoukhi Boualem scored a brace as Qatar extended their winning streak to five matches in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. All indications are they are on a strong footing as they lead Group C by five points with just three matches to go.  The home side dominated possession right from the start and constantly applied pressure on the Maldives defence. The chances for Qatar started right from the third minute. Mohamed Musa got a great ball inside the box but his shot was wide. Sebastian Soria had a couple of chances but an off-target chip and a save from Maldives keeper Imran Mohamed denied him the goal. The Maldives keeper was again in the thick of the action in the 17th minute when he saved a powerful freekick by Hassan al-Haydos. In the 25th minute, Boualem’s freekick whistled inches over the bar. In the previous encounter between these two teams, Qatar needed the comfort of injury time to find the winner. But yesterday they scored in the 28th minute following a great team effort to take the lead. A combination of first-touch passes between Karim Boudiaf, al-Haydos and then Soria saw the ball delivered to Boualem and he didn’t make any mistake, calmly slotting it past the goalkeeper for the opening goal.  Qatar should have doubled their lead five minutes later when a fine piece of individual brilliance saw Hassan al-Haydos trick two defenders inside the box and then deliver a cross into the centre. But it was just beyond Soria.The first half ended with Qatar enjoying 65 per cent of the possession and having attempted eight shots on goal while Maldives were still to get off the mark. The second session followed a script similar with Qatar dominating possession and attacking in waves. In the 52nd minute, Ali Asadallah missed a good chance when his diving header went wide. Asadallah was unmarked and should have made better use of the cross from Soria.Boualem had another go in the 62nd minute with a good solo run but his shot was saved by the keeper. He had another chance with the resulting corner but his header was just wide.Qatar were finally rewarded in the 69th minute when al-Haydos swung in a corner which was flicked on by Boualem and Kasola at the far post completed the tap-in. And then a minute later Boualem got his brace as he coolly slotted in the ball after a cross into the box by Musa. Apart from the goals, another promising sign for Qatar was the introduction of their talisman Khalfan Ibrahim in the 73rd minute. The diminutive striker has now recovered from his injury problems and was inducted into the game to earn him some valuable match time. Within six minutes of coming on the pitch, Ibrahim almost turned provider when he cleverly took a freekick, passing the ball to al-Haydos, who fired in a shot only for the Maldives keeper Mohamed to palm it off.In the 85th minute, Akram Afif was brought on in place of Asadallah and it was the youngster who provided the through pass for Musa to score Qatar’s fourth goal in the 92nd minute.The Maroons now have a month’s break before they take on Bhutan in an away game on November 17. Qatar had won their first leg clash 15-0.