In the second game, a Talal Haji wonder goal paved the way for Saudi Arabia to register a 4-0 win against Afghanistan, giving them maximum points after two matches.
Australia 2–0 Macau
Australia raced to ninth minute lead after Panagiotis Kikianis pounced on a loose ball following a free-kick from Luka Jovanovic that took a deflection off Macau player.
Macau survived several more scares in the first half as Jovanovic and Arion Sulemani were both guilty of missing presentable chances to test goalkeeper Lam Chak Fong.
It wasn’t until five minutes into the second half that Australia were able to get their second when Kikianis arrowed a spectacular long range shot into the top corner.
Australia could have extended their advantage in the 79th minute, however, Jake Najdovski’s penalty was well saved by Lam who dived at full length to his right.
On Friday, Australia will take on Palestine while Macau play their last group game against Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia 4-0 Afghanistan
Afghanistan had the ball in Saudi Arabia’s net after only six minutes, however, Enayatullah Kohi’s tap-in was ruled out as the assistant referee on the far side had already raised his flag for offside.
It took Saudi Arabia some time to find their footing and it was only at the half hour mark that they created their first big chance, Saad Haqawi’s shot pushed onto the bar by Afghanistan custodian Faisal Saeed.
However, it was the Central Asian side who would go closest in the first half when Roman Hamdi struck a curling free-kick that needed Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Hamed Abdullah to be at his best to push over the bar.
The match needed a special goal to break the deadlock and so it proved in the 56th minute, Talal Haji managing to generate substantial power to loop a header over Saeed to give Saudi Arabia the lead.
Saudi Arabia made sure of the win with strikes from Thamer Alkhaibari (76th, 90th+7) and Ali Almahdawi (90th+2) as they inched closer to a place in the Finals.
