Uzbekistan go top of Singapore's Group D
Uzbekistan went top of Group D in the Asian qualifiers for World Cup 2022 with a 2-0 win over Palestine yesterday.
Eldor Shomurodov bagged both goals in Tashkent to take his tally to six in his last four qualifiers - including a brace against Singapore in the National Stadium last month.
The joint-top scorer in the Russian top flight opened the scoring for the White Wolves in the 18th minute, before adding a second in the 58th minute.
The result saw Uzbekistan leapfrog Asia's seventh-ranked team Saudi Arabia at the top of Group D - albeit with a game in hand.
Singapore moved up to third after a 2-1 win over Yemen in Bahrain.
In Group G, leaders Vietnam and Thailand drew 0-0 at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi.
Thailand's Theerathon Bunmathan missed a first-half penalty.
The result, coupled with Malaysia's 2-0 win over Indonesia at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, saw Thailand drop to third as Harimau Malaya moved up to second, two points adrift of Vietnam - who have 11 points after five matches.
Safawi Rasid scored both of Malaysia's goals with stunning strikes and was denied a hat-trick only by the post.
Fellow South-east Asian side Myanmar continued their resurgence under Antoine Hey with a 1-0 win via a Hlaing Bo Bo goal in Group F.
The Philippines, meanwhile, lost 1-0 to Syria in Group A through a Ward Al Salama goal.
Asian champions Qatar stayed top of Group E on 13 points after five matches. But they needed an Akram Afif penalty 14 minutes from time to seal a 1-0 win over Afghanistan in Tajikistan.
In Group C, Iraq were held goalless by second-placed Bahrain in Jordan.
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