Team Melli played a goalless draw against China in the second match day of FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia qualifiers. The draw was more like a loss of two points for team Melli as they were the better team all round and on merit and performance deserved a win

Iran, however leads the table with 4 points same as South Korea who could not do any better drawing 0-0 away to Syria. Uzbekistan and Qatar are yet to play the final match of the round.

Queiroz changes and smart starting line-up reflected his dissatisfaction with the team performance against Qatar. With Chinese having a pace advantage upfront, Pouraliganji replaced the slower and older Hosseini, although the veteran defender was called upon after the shoulder injury to Montazeri.

Up front, Taremi was left on the bench; Shojaei replaced Dejagah while Mohammadi took Hajsafy’s place on the left.

That line up worked very well and it showed from the first minutes of the match. 

The first half saw Iran playing the better football. Ball possession and distribution , solid midfield control and closing the back line against the home team , ensured Team Melli was in control of the match , however team performance was marred by some wasteful scoring chances.

Masoud Shojae was a clever and effective replacement for injured Ashkan Dejagah. In a rare quality performance by the veteran, he was supreme in the midfield with timely passes and good ball control , mastering the through balls which unfortunately were not taken advantage of by the forwards. The finishing was dreadful.

The best chance for Team Melli came in the 24th min when a master pass by Shojaei intended for Sardar cut the China defense in half , however the prolific Azmoun misjudged the ball on his turn and shoot wide. A certain chance for Iran to take the lead went begging.

A minute later Pejman Montazeri was hurt in a collision with a Chinese forward. Montazei was substituted and later taken to the hospital with a suspected broken shoulder or a dislocation.

China had one shot on goal in the 1st half against Iran’s  8

In the second half, China came out fighting. They managed to threaten Iran’s goal and came close to scoring twice, once when Biranvand fumbled the ball a few feet from the goal line. Milad Mohammadi played an excellent match on the left side limiting the threat and pace of the two Chinese players on that side.

slowly as the game progressed, Iran took the initiative back from the Chinese team and like the first half , they managed to control the midfield. China’s offensive moves were few and far while Team Melli continued its assault on China’s goal.

However, the chances were all wasted. Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh were guilty of some appalling mis-shots  into the stands especially the latter. Jahanbaksh had another poor day.

The best chance to score came from a shot by the substitute Mehdi Torabi late in the match which the Chines keeper parried to a corner kick.

Despite Team Melli’s control and better organization with solid defending at the back, the team game plan lacked variety in offense. There was no B plan to break the great China Wall. The team seems to have a one track mind in offense and that is crossing the ball from flanks hoping that Azmoun or someone else gets at the end of crosses. It was easy for the Chinese team to defend in numbers against such tactics.

Team Melli lacked deep penetrating moves, long range shots, swift counter attacks or any other options. There are enough skillful players to penetrate, dribble and slice defenders but such tactics were not deployed.

Overall , and after two rounds , the results are satisfactory but that cannot be said of the team style or performance.