Japan were in cruise mode as they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners in their Asian Cup tie against Palestine.
The Samurai Blues were massive favourites heading into the game, and their level of dominance validated that tag as they controlled the tempo from the offset. Yasuhito Endo opened the scoring on the 8th minute mark, before Shinji Okazaki doubled their lead midway through the first half.
Palestine struggled to impose any form of threat on the Japanese half, and were more often than not pinned in their own half, trying to defend against Japanese attacks. Ultimately, Javier Aguirre side made it 3-0 just two minutes before the break, courtesy of a Keisuke Honda penalty.
After the break, Japan netted an early fourth goal, with Maya Yoshida heading home from close range. Palestine were consistently working hard though Japan’s technical superiority was consistently getting the better of them.
Palestine eventually got a man sent off on the 73rd minute mark due to a second bookable offence but ironically had their best goalscoring opportunity just minutes later. Abdallatif Al Bahdari managed to make contact with a free kick delivery but his powerful header was just wide off the post.
Japan eventually slowed their own tempo and ultimately secured a comfortable 4-0 win to kick start their Asian Cup campaign on a positive note.
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