UAE too good for Philippines in friendly

UAE outplay Philippines to extend unbeaten run to 17 matches ahead of meeting with Hong Kong in Asian Cup qualifier at weekend, reports Amith Passela.

Ismail Matar, second from right, scored one of UAE's four goals against the Philippines. Lee Hoagland / The National
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UAE 4

Saleh ‘18, Abbas ‘40, Matar ‘60, Mabkhout ‘78

Philippines 0

Man of the match Omar Abdulrahman (UAE)

ABU DHABI // The UAE scored twice either side of half time to emerge 4-0 winners over the Philippines in a friendly at the Al Nahyan stadium on Saturday.

Salem Saleh and Walid Abbas scored in the first half while Ismail Matar and Ali Mabkhout were on target after the break as the UAE extended their unbeaten streak to 17 games.

Saleh, the Al Wahda midfielder, drilled the ball past Eduard Sacapano, the Philippines goalkeeper, after Omar Abdulrahman slipped a pass between two defenders. Abbas tapped in the second after a close range shot from Matar hit the far post and fell into his path as the UAE went into the break with a 2-0 lead.

It could have been more had Abdulrahman’s low effort not ricocheted off the post and Hamdan Al Kamali’s rocket from 25 yards crashed against the crossbar.

Sacapano made a brilliant save by punching out a powerfully struck shot from Abdulrahman from 25 yards but the “Azkals” keeper had no chance on a curling effort from Matar two minutes later as the UAE made it 3-0 on the hour.

Mabkhout, who came off the bench to replace Matar on the 70th minute, rounded off the UAE’s triumph by firing home the fourth.

apassela@thenational.ae