Palestine makes use of substitutes to beat Maldives 3-0

Substitutions made by Palestinian national football team during the second half of AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Maldivian national football team on Tuesday night helped the team secure a 3-0 win over Maldives.

The Group D match was played at national football stadium of Maldives.

The first half saw neither of the teams creating significant goal scoring opportunities, with the defense tight on both ends.

The only strike on target by Maldivian team was a free-kick by Ali Fasir (Sentey) at the 22nd minute which was defended by Palestinian goalkeeper Rami Hamada.

Seven minutes after the attack, Palestinian player Mohammed Darwish sent the ball through to team mate Yasser Islam who was alone inside the Maldivian penalty area with no defenders in sight.

Yasser Islam’s strike was off-target.

The first half ended 0-0.

Palestinian team appeared strong at the start of the second half and created a significant goal-scoring opportunity at the 53rd minute.

Chilean-born Palestinian player Jonathan Zorrilla controlled the ball at the Maldivian penalty area and ran free of Maldivian defender Shafiu Ahmed (Shafy). But the ball was defended by keeper Faisal.

Luck changed for the Palestinian team when Ahmed Wridat – substituted into the match at the 59th minute - scored two consecutive goals.

The first goal was struck from inside the penalty area at the 62nd minute from a ball delivered by Tamer Seyam. The second goal came three minutes later from inside the penalty area after Wridat shook off defenders.

Palestinian team had plenty of other goal-scoring opportunities including the goal-scoring opportunity from Yasser Islam at the 72nd minute and again by Jonathan Zorrilla.

The team scored its third goal during extra three minutes of stoppage time.

The goal was scored by Ahmad Abu Nahyeh who was a last-minute substitution made during stoppage time.

The next AFC Asian Cup qualification match for Maldives is against Bhutan, which will be played on June 13 in Bhutan’s turf.