Oday Dabbagh's brace helped Palestine record an emphatic 3-0 win over Yemen to conclude their campaign in third place of Group D of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 on Tuesday. Palestine started on the front foot with Dabbagh coming within a whisker of opening the scoring on two separate occasions, hitting the post in the 12th minute and again midway through the first half. As the opening period looked set to end with a stalemate, Dabbagh's persistence finally paid off as he climbed highest to head home Islam Battran's cross from the left flank into the back of the net, giving Palestine the lead. The Palestinians were not done yet, and once more it was Dabbagh behind their attacking threat as he pounced on a loose ball inside the box following a set-piece to unleash a powerful effort that was deflected off his teammate Yaser Hamed and leaving goalkeeper Mohammad Khairallah wrong-footed to double Palestine's advantage just before the break. Layth Kharoub thought he had added a third for Palestine seven minutes after the restart as Mohammed Yameen sent an intelligently crossed bicycle kick for Kharoub who hit it on the half-volley, drawing a spectacular save from Khairallah. Six minutes before the end of the match, Dabbagh showed his quality once more, guiding home a header from the pinpoint cross of Musaab Al Battat to make it 3-0. Goalkeeper Khairallah produced a string of saves throughout the second half to limit the damage to three goals as Yemen finished the bottom of the group with five points, two points adrift of Singapore. — Agencies
