Iran qualify for Australia 2015 in style [VIDEO]

Persianfootball.com – BEIRUT, Goals from Amir-Hossein Sadeghi, Ashkan Dejagah, Javad Nekounam and Reza Ghoochannejhad gave Iran a well deserved 4-1 victory over Lebanon in Beirut and qualified Team Melli for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

Not only qualification was sealed, but also the first place in the group, therefore making the final qualifier versus Kuwait – who qualified alongside Iran with a 3-1 win over Thailand – in Tehran on February meaningless and an even bigger waste of a FIFA matchday ahead of the World Cup.

Carlos Queiroz had announced to give some new players a chance to prove themselves and indeed changed the team that had beaten Thailand last week on four positions.

Besides Hossein Mahini, who came in for the suspended Ehsan Hajsafi, Amir-Hossein Sadeghi, Reza Haghighi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh came in for Pejman Montazeri, Andranik Teymourian and Mojtaba Jabbari.

Jahanbakhsh overtook Ashkan Dejagah’s rightwing position while the Fulham man played in the central role behind the sole striker Reza Ghoochannejhad

Iran of course overtook the initiative in Beirut’s Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which was empty after fans had been barred from entering the complex due to security concerns, but chances were a scarcity in first half.

Jahanbakhsh firing the ball over the bar and Roda Antar aiming his header wide of target being the best opportunity on either side – at least until minute 39 when Amir-Hossein Sadeghi opened the scoreline with a powerful header to a Masoud Shojaei corner from the left.

Ashkan Dejagah then doubled the lead when he directly hammered a Ghoochannejhad pass into the net six minutes into the second interval.

Just three minutes later captain Javad Nekounam put the win beyond doubt when he converted a penalty with ease after Shojaei had been brought down in the box.

Reza Ghoochannejhad then extended his amazing run of scoring in consecutive games to six, when he stumbled the ball into the net after a splendid chip into the box from Shojaei, 64 minutes into the match.

Iran then completely outplayed the hosts but were punished for a small concentration slip when substitute midfielder Ghasem Hadadifar turned the ball over and Steven Beitashour wasn’t close enough to stop Mohammad Haidar from slamming the ball past Daniel Davari from tight angle.

Nevertheless Carlos Queiroz and Iran could celebrate their sixth consecutive win in competitive games and remain unbeaten in such in 2013 while having qualified for both next year’s World Cup and 2015’s Asian Cup.

Lebanon – Iran 1-4 (0-1)
Asian Cup qualifier, group B, Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut (no spectators)

Goals:
1-0 Amir-Hossein Sadeghi (39′ / assist by Masoud Shojaei)
2-0 Ashkan Dejagah (51′ / Reza Ghoochannejhad)
3-0 Javad Nekounam (54′ penalty / foul on Masoud Shojaei)
4-0 Reza Ghoochannejhad (64′ / Masoud Shojaei)
4-1 Mohammad Haidar (79′)

Iran: Davari – Beitashour, Hosseini (63′ Zare), Sadeghi, Mahini – Haghighi (65′ Nouri), Nekounam – Jahanbakhsh, Dejagah (72′ Hadadifar), Shojaei – Ghoochannejhad

Below come the goals from PFDC TV.