Costly missed chances could come back to haunt the Socceroos, but Saudi Arabia felt equally aggrieved after they were denied an injury-time winner in a dramatic scoreless draw in Melbourne.
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Australian hearts sank when Saudi substitute Sultan Al-Ghannam drove a low shot into the bottom left corner from distance with only seconds remaining, but amid jubilant celebrations, the goal was disallowed after it was deemed keeper Joe Gauci was interfered with by an offside player.
If the Saudi attacker was offside, it was by little more than a toe as the visitors remonstrated angrily and play halted for several minutes as the decision was checked by video referee.
The offside call was upheld, only for Australia to go down the other end and almost score via a stunning bicycle kick attempt from Riley McGree which missed right.
The biggest chance for the Socceroos to break the deadlock had come in the 84th minute, when substitute Brandon Borrello burst clear but opted to pass to McGree to his left instead of chipping the keeper.
A desperate sliding challenge from Saud Abdulhamid knocked the ball out of McGree’s path.
After starting slowly but taking control at the half-hour mark, the Socceroos lost key playmaker Ajdin Hrustic at halftime after he had appeared sore before the break.
His replacement Nishan Velupillay was the brightest spark in the second half, but suffered an ankle injury when he was brought down in a tangle of limbs in the penalty box in the 69th minute.
Melbourne-born Hrustic missed a golden opportunity to open the Socceroos’ account in the 45th minute when Aiden O’Neill boldly slid from behind to strip a Saudi defender of the ball and leave his teammate on his preferred left side on the edge of the box.
But Hrustic failed to connect with his shot and barely tested the keeper, before fellow local boy Jackson Irvine was left bitterly disappointed on the stroke of halftime when he moved in on the box but fired his shot just over the top-right hand corner.
The draw left the two sides on equal points midway through the third round of qualifying, with a win over Bahrain crucial for Australia to move towards the top-two finish required to book a World Cup berth by June next year.
PENALTY OVERTURNED
The opposition keeper sent off and a penalty in the first 15 minutes? Christmas almost came early for the Socceroos when Saudi gloveman Ahmed Alkassar was drawn into the path of Mitch Duke and the pair clashed heads in the 13th minute.
But despite the referee pointing to the spot after both players hit the deck, it was obvious upon the first replay that the collision had happened outside the box and the decision was swiftly downgraded.
Alkassar, who lay spread-eagled on his back, completely still, for two minutes after the collision, escaped with a yellow card and did not need to enter concussion protocols.
GAUCI’S GLOVES TO LOSE
Mathew Ryan retained the Socceroos captaincy leading into this window, but it would take a dramatic shift for him to remain in the role after Tony Popovic opted for Joe Gauci in goal for the third consecutive match.
Gauci, who has made only two cup appearances for Aston Villa so far this season, had two heart-in-mouth moments on the ball early on, but gained a confidence boost when he pulled off an impressive double save on the brink of halftime.
An eventual offside call erased most of the meaning of a dangerous counter-attack by Marwan Al-Sahafi, but Gauci did well in a one-on-one before getting back to his feet and parrying a follow-up shot to safety.
IN FULL VOICE
The size of Melbourne’s Saudi Arabian community is often underestimated, but there was no missing the Green Falcons’ active support despite organisers cramming them into a single corner at the river end of the stadium.
Driven by a significant international student population, the Saudi crew drummed, chanted and bounced to be easily the loudest bay in the venue, stripping away any home crowd advantage the Socceroos had been hoping to capitalise on.
AUSTRALIA 0
SAUDI ARABIA 0
CROWD 27,491 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
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