Comoros appeared to have picked up where they left off from their triumphant qualification for a debut Africa Cup of Nations appearance when they opened the scoring against Palestine in their FIFA Arab Cup preliminary round matchup, but the Palestinians responded with an excellent performance to storm back and win 5-1 on Thursday. Palestine will now compete in Group C alongside Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in the group stage that will kick off at the end of November.
Les Coelacantes were off to a dream start in the 5th minute when Mohamed M’Changama flicked a deft header to send Doumoi Moussa through on goal. Moussa’s first effort was thwarted by a Palestinian defender, but the player based in the French fourth tier with AS Saint-Priest got his feet right and finished low with his left foot past Palestinian keeper Rami Hamada to open the scoring.
However, after 30 minutes with the lead, Comoros were undone by a splendid surge back from the Palestinian side, starting with Layth Kharoub being on hand to tap in a rebound when Comoran keeper Moyadh Ousseni failed to corral a header following a set piece. The 42nd minute brought Palestine the lead when Oday Dabbagh collected a ball on the right side of the Comoran penalty area, cutting by two defenders before lashing an effort that was too powerful for Ousseni to keep out.
The Kuwaiti-based Dabbagh had a Man of the Match performance, and his brilliant outside of the foot cross from the right flank set up a Tamer Seyam header to make it 3-1 in the 56th minute. Dabbagh then dispossessed a defender and dribbled in before cutting across to a wide open Seyam to make it 4-1 in the 72nd minute and the rout was on. Islam Batran completed the scoring in the 81st minute as Palestine showed their class on the day.
A match report from FIFA is in the first link below followed by a link to the highlights from FIFA TV.
