Clinical Iran hand Palestinian team 4-1 defeat at Asian Cup

AL RAYYAN, QATAR: Iran beat the Palestinian team 4-1 in their Asian Cup Group C opener on Sunday (Jan 14) at the Education City Stadium where a show of solidarity by Iranian fans and players was quickly followed by a football masterclass from the three-times champions.

Goals from Karim Ansarifard, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Mehdi Ghayedi and Sardar Azmoun gave Iran all three points while Tamer Seyam scored a consolation for the Palestinians, who are still seeking their first win at the Asian Cup.

The squad was greeted with huge cheers before the play-out of their national anthem, as the Iranian fans showed solidarity with their Middle Eastern counterparts.

A moment's silence was also held before the game for the loss of lives in the Gaza conflict which has raged on for 100 days and killed nearly 24,000 Palestinians according to Gaza's Hamas-run health authorities..

The latest conflict in a war that has rumbled on for seven decades began after the devastating Hamas attack on Oct 7, in which Israel says about 1,200 people were killed and around 240 taken hostage.

But once the referee blew the whistle for kickoff, Iran got straight down to business and opened the scoring in the second minute when Saman Ghoddos played the ball to Ansarifard, who curled his shot past the keeper into the far corner.

Iran doubled their lead from a set piece with Ghoddos the provider yet again, his floating cross to the far post finding Khalilzadeh who smartly turned the ball into the net.

Iran were technically and tactically superior to the Palestinians, who barely managed to get out of their own half at times, and they conceded a third goal before the break when Ghayedi found the bottom corner from a flowing move.

Iran's goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was barely tested until the final minute of first-half stoppage time when the Palestinian side finally got on the board from a set piece where Seyam scored with a close range header.

But Iran shut down any hopes of a comeback after the break when halftime substitute Azmoun made it 4-1 while VAR intervened late in the game to overturn a straight red card for Palestinian defender Mohammed Saleh who made a last man tackle.

Although the Palestinians managed to mount a couple of promising attacks they ended at the bottom of the group, while Iran held firm to go top.

Earlier, the United Arab Emirates beat Hong Kong 3-1 thanks to penalties from Sultan Alamiri and Yahya Al-Ghassani while Zayed Sultan also got on the scoresheet. Chan Siu Kwan was Hong Kong's lone goal scorer.