JEDDAH. Saudi Arabia topped China PR. Saudi Arabia took advantage of its superior ball possession (57%).
The match was played at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah on Tuesday and it started at 5:00 pm local time. The referee was Ilgiz Tantashev with the help of Andrey Tsapenko and Timur Gaynulin. The 4th official was Mohanad Qasim Eessee Sarray. The weather was clear. The temperature was extremely hot at 30.9 degrees Celsius or 87.66 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 62%.
Match Statistics
- 57 Ball Possession 43
Shots
- 15 Total 9
- 5 On Target 6
- 10 Off Target 3
- 1 Shots blocked 0
- 101 Attack 86
- 64 Dangerous attack 43
- 79 Ball safe 83
- 0 Penalties 0
- 2 Corners 3
- 2 Off Sides 3
Fouls
- 7 Total 8
- 1 Yellow Cards 0
- 0 Double Yellow 0
- 0 Red Card 0
Other
- 5 Substitutions 7
Saudi Arabia was in firm control of the ball 57% while China PR was struggling with a 43% ball possession.
Saudi Arabia was more aggressive with 64 dangerous attacks and 15 shots of which 5 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Saudi Arabia won the match.
Saudi Arabia shot 15 times, 5 on target, 10 off target. On the opposite side, China PR shot 9 times, 6 on target, 3 off target.
Cards
Saudi Arabia received 1 yellow card (A. Al Malki). On the other side, China PR received 1 yellow card (Li Tie).
Match Timeline
Standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
After this match, Saudi Arabia will have 12 points to stay in the 3rd place. On the opposite side, China PR will stay with 3 points to stay in the 8th place.
Next matches
Saudi Arabia – Formation
Saudi Arabia
69'
87'
15', 38'
Saudi Arabia started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
The manager Hervé Renard decided to play with the following team: Mohammed Al-Owais , Sultan Al-Ghannam , Abdulelah Al-Amri , Abdullah Madu , Saud Abdulhamid , Mohamed Kanno , Abdulelah Al Malki , Fahad Al Muwallad , Salman Al-Faraj , Sami Al-Najei and Saleh Al-Shehri .
The home team had on the bench: Nasser Al-Dawsari, Mohammed Al Kuwaykibi, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Hussain Qasim, Ali Al-Boleahi , Ali Al-Hassan, Fawaz Al Qarni , Zaid Al-Bawardi, Abdulrahman Alobud , Firas Albirakan , Mohammed Al-Khabrani and Ayman Yahya.
Saudi Arabia could not rely on the presence of F. Al Qarni (injured).
Substitutions
Saudi Arabia made 5 changes: M. Al Owais for F. Al Qarni (69′), S. Al Shehri for F. Al Brikan (69′), S. Al-Najei for A. Al Obaid (75′), S. Abdulhamid for A. Albulayhi (75′) and A. Al Malki for A. Al Hassan (90′).
Best player: Sami Al-Najei
The player that probably impressed the most for Saudi Arabia was Sami Al-Najei.
His rating is with 2 goals, 39 passes (82% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 1 duel out of 2. He performed 1 cross.
China PR – Formation
China PR
China PR started with a 3-5-2 line-up (3-5-2).
On the opposite side, Tie Li played with: Junling Yan , Chenjie Zhu , Tyias Browning , Ang Li , Linpeng Zhang , Jingdao Jin , Zhongguo Chi , Xi Wu , Shenchao Wang , Wu Lei and Yuning Zhang .
They had on the bench: Qiuming Wang, Dabao Yu, Binbin Liu, Dianzuo Liu, Alan , Zhunyi Gao , Dalei Wang, Xin Xu, Tianyu Guo, Xizhe Zhang , Elkeson and Aloisio.
China PR could not rely on the presence of Gao Zhunyi (injured).
Substitutions
China PR made 5 changes: Jin Jingdao for L. Guofu (46′), Li Ang for Alan (46′), Chi Zhongguo for Zhang Xizhe (60′), Zhang Yuning for Elkeson (60′) and Zhang Linpeng for Gao Zhunyi (81′).
Best player: Xi Wu
The player that probably impressed the most for China PR was Xi Wu.
His rating is with 1 goal, 38 passes (81% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 4 duels out of 4.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Asia.
- Japan – Australia – 2-1
- IR Iran – Korea Republic – 1-1
- Syria – Lebanon – 2-3
- Oman – Vietnam – 3-1
- United Arab Emirates – Iraq – 2-2
- Saudi Arabia – China PR – 3-2
