Socceroos scrap way to victory amid 'unacceptable' act in Asian Cup opener

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold admits his side will need to lift their performance after opening their Asian Cup football campaign with a scrappy win against India in Doha. The Aussies largely had their World No.102-ranked opponents to thank after a horror mistake from India's goalkeeper gifted Jackson Irvine a second half breakthrough, following a scrappy stalemate in the first 45 minutes.

India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu could only bat a cross from the Socceroos directly into the path of Irvine, who lashed the ball into the unguarded net to give the Aussies a 50th minute lead. Jordy Bos then completed the underwhelming 2-0 victory with a debut goal for his country after being set up by fellow substitute Riley McGree in the 73rd minute.

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Bos side-footed home with his first touch of the match as Arnold's substitutions provided some spark to what had been a lacklustre attack for Australia. The 2-0 win was the first time Arnold had won an opening match at what is his third Asian Cup in campaign, but the Socceroos boss was far from happy with the performance of his men.

Socceroos coach far from happy with performance

"I can honestly say that we've got to improve a lot more than that," Arnold said after the match. "We're here to win the Asian Cup and to reach the stars, you have to have high expectations and put those expectations on the boys and get them to believe in what we can do.

"I have to give full credit to India. I thought that there was probably a little bit too much excitement (from us) first half for the competition to start, but after we got to halftime and showed them some good clips about what they're doing well, second half we did very well.

Socceroos captain and goalkeeper Mat Ryan returned from a fractured cheekbone to take his place in the starting XI, albeit wearing a Batman-like black protective face mask. Ryan was rarely challenged though as the Aussies dominated the first half but consistently lacked the cutting edge up front to trouble India's goalkeeper.

Aussies take lead after goalkeeper blunder

Australia had 14 first-half shots but just two on target as India scrambled brilliantly in defence and were aggressive enough to make some decent chances of their own on the counter attack. After the frustrating opening 45 minutes that also included 11 corners for Australia, it was an awful mistake from India's keeper that ultimately gave the Socceroos the impetus to go on and claim victory.

Gurpreet made a meal of Martin Boyle's cross into the box after failing to catch the ball or hit it wide to safety. Instead, the goalkeeper's tame effort fell right into the path of Irvine on the penalty spot to fire home the opener. The goal was harsh on an India side that had worked so hard until that point, with some fans calling it an "unacceptable" error from the goalkeeper.

Socceroos struggle to unlock down India's defence

While the 2-0 result looked comfortable at first glance for Australia, the match once again underlined the difficulties Anrnold's men find in breaking down packed defences. "Bahrain was a perfect preparation game for us because they sat back and made it difficult as well," Arnold said. "Obviously, India tonight did the same and we'll no doubt get ready for that again against Syria."

Arnold can take some praise for his second half substitutions and the impact they had on the contest after bringing on McGree and Sam Silvera in the 64th minute, followed by Bos and Bruno Fornaroli in the last 20 minutes. McGree danced into the box from the right wing to set up Bos for his debut Socceroos goal, with Fornaroli's clever run dragging India's defenders away from the young gun.

The match was officiated by Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita, who became the first female referee at the Asian Cup. The 2-0 win sees the Socceroos jump to the top of Group B after rivals Uzbekistan and Syria played out a 0-0 draw in their first match. The Socceroos' next match is against Syria on Thursday night (AEDT).

with AAP

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