Australia travelled to Tajikistan for their first competitive fixture against the former Soviet Nation and came away with the points in a 3-0 victory. Playing in the capital city Dushanbe on an artificial pitch with a packed home crowd, the Socceroos never looked overawed and secured their third win from three outings in World Cup qualifying.
The first half could only be described as frustrating for Ange Postecoglou’s men. Holding more than 70% possession and having 14 shots, there was still no way to break the deadlock. A combination of poor finishing, poor decision making and uneasiness on the pitch left the Australians without a goal at the break.
It took only 11 minutes after the restart for the Socceroos to take the lead. It may not have been pretty, but it was what the team needed. A pulsating run from Massimo Luongo down the right drew one of many corners and it was Mark Milligan who poked home Aaron Mooy’s set piece for the opener.
There is very rarely an Australia game in which Tim Cahill does not find the net and this night was no different, getting his name on the score sheet in the 73rd minute. Ryan McGowan made a good overlapping run down the right-flank and was picked out with a pinpoint ball by substitute Nathan Burn, before delivering a perfect pass across goal of his own for Cahill to slot home from five-yards.
Cahill would get his second in classic fashion in stoppage time. Second-half substitute Tommy Oar sent the ball into the box from the left and the veteran striker made no mistake from an unmarked position near the penalty spot, heading home the third and final goal.
Tajikistan had a scattering of opportunities, calling Adam Federici into two saves and also hitting the side netting, but the match never looked out of the hands of the Socceroos.
Aaron Mooy the standout
If this was league football, Mooy would be the first name on the team sheet for the next fixture. Over the two matches of this international break, and especially in this match, he has been the best midfielder on the park. Questions would be asked of whether Milligan would start if Mile Jedinak was available, if Luongo and Tom Rogic can work together and if Matt McKay is good enough anymore to warrant his spot in the team.
Yet, the real question that needs to be asked from this performance is who should play around Aaron Mooy? The Melbourne City marquee man hit 55 passes and 16 crosses with an accuracy of 87%, controlling the game from the middle of the park. His dead ball opportunities delivered varied results with a few going too far and some ended short, but he did have one spectacular effort that cannoned off the bar.
He was replaced by Tom Rogic in the 66th minute, but the man from Melbourne has staked his claim for a permanent spot in Postecoglou’s XI.
https://youtu.be/AVFj1yP-6xk
Australia Struggle to deal with artificial pitch
The Socceroos never looked one hundred percent comfortable on the artificial surface, the way the ball bounced and held up throwing up all sorts of trouble. Often losing their footing, it was evident that they will be happy to never have to play on that sort of pitch again.
Heading into the game the thought was that the slickness of the artificial turf would help the Socceroos passing game. It served as more of a hindrance though, as any ball played even inches off the surface would bounce, slow, and skid, causing Australia distress and meaning they never settled in to their best passing game.
Elrich the better option to McGowan
Ryan McGowan may have come out of this game with an assist to his name, but his overall contribution will leave the Dundee United man on the outer. Ange Postecoglou decided to rest Tarek Elrich for this match as he is not seeing regular game time prior to the beginning of the A-League season, but McGowan’s performance will remind him why the Adelaide United man is his number one choice at right-back.
McGowan only supplied 43 passes and did not patrol the flank as well as Elrich did against Bangladesh. Having to do a similar amount of defensive work, Postecoglou would have been expecting the 26-year-old to provide a similar amount of attacking impetus, yet on this occasion he failed to deliver.
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