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Australian striker Kusini Yengi scored twice before Nestor Irankunda added the icing on the cake as Australia cruised to a 5-0 win over Palestine in a World Cup qualifier in Perth.
In Tuesday night’s match, Yanji opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the fifth minute and made it 3-0 in the 41st minute with a clever move that broke through the Palestinian defense.
The 25-year-old’s beautiful through ball set up Martin Boyle for Australia’s fourth goal in the 53rd minute, capping a well-rounded performance from the home side.
Ilankunda came on as a substitute in the 70th minute, making his second appearance for the national team, and scored from the penalty spot in the 88th minute.
The 18-year-old, who has signed for German giants Bayern Munich, celebrated his first Australian international goal with a trademark backflip.
The result means Australia ends this stage of qualifying with a perfect record of six wins from six games, and is dominant with a 22-0 advantage in goals scored and goals conceded.
Australia will be hoping South Korea draws or loses to China in Group C on Tuesday night.
If the result holds true, Australia will leapfrog South Korea in the world rankings, ensuring Australia finishes third in Asia and avoids Japan and Iran in the next stage of qualifying.
South Korea eventually beat China 1-0, meaning Australia will face either Japan, South Korea or Iran in the next stage of the group stage.
Australian national team coach Graham Arnold made eight changes to the starting XI that beat Bangladesh 2-0 in Dhaka last week, with only goalkeeper Joe Gotch, Jackson Irwin and Yanji retaining their original places.
Tuesday’s match attracted 18,261 fans, with the roar of the Palestinian fans easily drowning out the enthusiasm of the Australian fans.
In the third minute, Aziz Behich knocked down his opponent, resulting in a minor penalty for the Palestinian team, and the Palestinian players were furious
With no VAR available, the penalty was awarded and Yengi fired a low shot into the left post, narrowly blocked by the goalkeeper’s outstretched glove.
Local fans entered the stadium hoping to see their hometown team perform a miracle, and Adam Taggart completed a beautiful one-two with Martin Boyle in the 26th minute to bring about a miracle for the team.
Boyle headed Targett’s pass before flicking the ball back to Perth Glory’s star striker, who made no mistake from close range.
Despite trailing 2-0, Palestine attacked hard every time it had the chance, forcing defender Alessandro Silcatti to make some important blocks.
Palestine’s bad luck continued in the 41st minute, when Boyle, who seemed to be in an offside position, assisted Yanji’s second goal.
Yanji’s excellent footwork caught the defender off guard and allowed him to shoot from close range.
The 3-0 score in the first half did not satisfy the Australian team. In the 53rd minute, Yengi’s beautiful through pass created the fourth goal for the Australian team.
Taggart received a pass from Yengi and unselfishly passed it to Boyle, who easily slotted it in.
That means Boyle has two assists and a goal.
In the 57th minute of the game, as Taggart pounced on the goal, the experienced striker was injured and he limped off the field gingerly.
American AP Association
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