Qatar 3-0 Kuwait

AFC – DOHA, Qatar advanced to the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ following a comfortable 3-0 win over Kuwait at Khalifa Stadium on Sunday.

The tournament hosts opened the scoring after 11 minutes through Bilal Mohammed before Mohamed El Sayed made it 2-0 five minutes later. Second-half substitute Fabio Cesar sealed the win with a goal four minutes before the end.

The win means Qatar take second place in Group A with Uzbekistan finishing first following a 2-2 draw with China at Al Gharafa Stadium.

Bruno Metsu’s side showed their attacking intentions right from the beginning and they fired a warning shot after only two minutes when Hamid Ismaeil played a corner from the right and Sebastian Soria headed just over.

They continued to press and again went close when Lawrence’s powerful free kick was tipped over the crossbar by Kuwait keeper Nawaf Al Khaldi.

And they deservedly grabbed the lead with 11 minutes gone when Soria crossed from the right and Mohammed rose to plant a header beyond Al Khaldi.

Qatar were clearly hungry for more and five minutes later they grabbed a second as El Sayed had only Al Khaldi to beat but the keeper blocked his header before Soria’s  follow was cleared by the Kuwaiti defenders. However, El Sayed was in the right place to pick up the loose ball and curl an effort into the back of the net.

With two goals to their name, Qatar were clearly happy to sit back and defend their lead while Kuwait had to wait until the 41st minute to create their first chance of the night but Bader Al Mutawa’s shot flew over the crossbar.

The Kuwaitis finished strongly and had another chance to pull a goal back in the first minute of stoppage time when Walied Ali had only Qasem Burhan to beat but the Qatar keeper pushed the ball away for a corner.

The start of the second half failed to match the explosive beginning to the game and it took until the 80th minute for either side to fashion a chance of note as Kuwait’s Fahad Al Enezi’s cross from the left was headed wide by substitute Ahmad Ajab.

But Qatar wrapped up the victory with four minutes remaining when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the area after Soria was fouled by Ahmad Al Rashidi and Fabio Cesar stepped up to curl an effort into the back of the net.