BANGKOK — Saudi Arabia slapped Thailand down in a crushing 3-0 victory at a World Cup qualifier Thursday, with two strikes sandwiching a devastating own-goal from the War Elephants on their home turf.
The win cements Saudi Arabia's leading spot in Group B with 13 points and propels the team one step closer to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
It also ended Thailand's hope of exacting revenge over the hotly-contested penalty kick that handed the Saudis a 1-0 win in the final minutes of a match in Riyadh last September.
But passionate roars from Bangkok's fan-packed Rajamangala Stadium Thursday were not enough to propel the players to victory.
Saudi Arabia's sharpshooter Mohammed Al-Sahlawi put his team on top early on when he took a pass from Nawaf Al-Abid down on his chest and struck the ball into the net in the 25th minute.
Thailand held up an admirable defense throughout most of the match and looked dangerous a number of times.
But the team was unable to deliver a goal and morale plummeted after Tanaboon Kesarat accidentally turned the ball into his own net in the 84th minute as he tried to block a cross.
The brutal defeat was sealed in an action-packed finale as Taisir Al-Jassim set Salman Al-Muwashar up for for killer strike in injury time in the 92nd minute.
Thailand remains at the bottom of the table after losing every match in the qualifying round save for a 2-2 draw with Australia in November.
In other Group B matches, Iraq and Australia shared two goals and Japan downed UAE 2-0.
In Group A, China stunned South Korea 1-0 to keep alive its slim hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
Beijing Guoan striker Yu Dabao scored the only goal of the game in the 34th minute to secure China’s first win in the current qualifying phase for next year’s Finals in Russia.
China moves onto five points from six games, five points adrift of second-placed South Korea.
The top two in each of Asia’s two qualifying groups advance automatically to the Finals, while the teams in third place enter into a series of playoffs.
China’s only previous win against South Korea came in Tokyo at the East Asian Cup in March 2010 in a low-key encounter, but this victory — in front of a capacity crowd at Helong Stadium — was of much greater significance.
The pressure was on coach Marcello Lippi’s team to perform with the profile of the sport at an all-time high following an expensive buying spree by Chinese clubs.
China, which has only previously appeared at the World Cup on one occasion in 2002, had the better of the opening exchanges despite the Koreans dominating possession, with Guangzhou Evergrande fullback Zhang Linpeng regularly pushing forward to cause the visiting defense problems.
Zhang’s strike in the 34th minute was deflected wide for a corner and from the resulting set-piece China scored as Yu steered Wang Yongpo’s set-piece into the bottom corner with the deftest of headers.
South Korea, which haso qualified for every World Cup since 1986, pushed for the equalizer in the second half and Chinese goalkeeper Zeng Cheng did well to twice deny long-range efforts from Swansea City midfielder Ki Sung-yeung.
He then saved a header from Ji Dong-won as the home side held on to take all three points.
In other Group A matches, Syria defeated Uzbekistan 1-0 and Iran beat Qatar 1-0. — Agencies
