Saudi Arabia thrash North Korea 4-1 in Asian Cup

Saudi Arabia players celebrate a penalty goal during the Group B Asian Cup football match between North Korea and Saudi Arabia in Melbourne

Melbourne, Jan 14 (IANS) Striker Al Sahlawi's two post-break goals helped Saudi Arabia smash North Korea 4-1 in a second round group stage match of the Asian Cup football tournament here Wednesday.

North Korea broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when Yong-Gi scored his country's first goal in the competition for 23 years, reports Xinhua.

But from then onwards, Saudi Arabia started to control possession more and created chances. Their hard work paid off in the 36th minute when Naif Hazazi's shot equalised the game.

Saudi Arabia took the lead early in the the second half (51th minute) when Al Sahlawi tapped the ball into the net after receiving a beautiful cross from the left wing and two minutes later, expanded their lead to 3-1.

Al Sahlawi capitalised on a wrong clearance to net his second goal. Nawaf Alabid sealed the 4-1 win in the 76th minute with a penalty conversion.

Saudi Arabia lost their opening match against China 0-1 Saturday. This was the ninth international meeting between these two teams with North Korea winning only once.