Sri Lanka close qualifying with a victory in Taipei

Sri Lanka defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 to finish their Asian Cup qualifying campaign with three wins from six matches. The result at Taipei Municipal Stadium left Sri Lanka third in Group D on nine points, while the hosts remained without a point.

Rahul Suresh opened the scoring after Dillon Da Silva’s cross and Garrett Kelly’s headed pass. Da Silva was involved again when Suresh’s flick created the opportunity for Niloshan Senthurvasan to add a second before half-time.

Christopher Tiao’s own goal extended Sri Lanka’s lead after the interval. Tiao then supplied the cross that Yu Yao-hsing headed in for Chinese Taipei’s reply, but the hosts could not recover further and Sri Lanka completed a convincing away victory without qualifying for Saudi Arabia.