Three goals in 10-minutes in the 2nd half saw Sri Lanka defeat Chinese Taipei 3-1 to secure an important win in the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers Final Round Group D tie at the Racecourse International Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The win meant Sri Lanka bounced back from their opening day defeat to Thailand in style while Chinese Taipei suffered a second consecutive loss.
Sri Lanka, ranked 200th in the world, needed the win in front of their home fans and started off brightly against the 166th in the world. Waseem Razeek’s through ball found Sam Durrant but his effort was thwarted by Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Ming-You.
Taipei’s only real opportunity fell for captain Chen Po-Liang and needed a good save from Sri Lanka’s captain Sujan Perera to keep the game goalless.
Sri Lanka’s best chance in the 1st half fell for Durrant, when he got on the end of a wayward back-pass, but Huang Chiu-Lin made a fingertip save to his right footed strike.
Half Time: Sri Lanka 0 – 0 Chinese Taipei
Sri Lanka struck early in the 49th minute of the 2nd half when Dillon De Silva crossed in from the left and Adhavan Rajamohan neatly finished on the turn after a wonderful first touch which freed him from the defenders.
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Hosts doubled the lead four minutes later, after the high pressing from Waseem forced a mistake from Wu Chun-Ching and Dillon De Silva made now mistake against Chiu-Lin.
Waseem then combined with Anujan Rajendram to score the 3rd goal in the 58th minute, ending his nearly 3 and a half year goal drought for the country. Visitors pulled a goal back in the 70th minute through substitute Huang Wei-Chieh but Sri Lanka controlled the rest of the game to get the win.
Full Time: Sri Lanka 3 – 1 Chinese Taipei
Match Summary
Goal Scorers
Sri Lanka – Adhavan Rajamohan 49’, Dillon De Silva 53’ & Waseem Razeek 58’
Chinese Taipei – Huang Wei-Chieh 70’
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