Socceroos World Cup qualifiers As It Happened: Australia cruise to 5-0 victory

That was a very enjoyable game of football tonight in Perth for those of you who are still burning the midnight oil with me here in Sydney.

Graham Arnold made the most of this dead rubber by really stretching out his squad and showing talent all over the park. Also what a difference a great surface and an opposition who want to play football make.

The standouts were Martin Boyle who caused chaos for Palestine with two assists and a goal, Parma’s Alessandro Circati on his second cap in front of his home fans in Perth was outstanding in defence. Another hometown hero Adam Taggart was industrious up front, working well with Portsmouth’s Kusini Yengi who provided danger for the Palestine defence all night.

The bench wasn’t bad either with Nestory Irankunda saying goodbye to Australia with a well taken penalty ahead of his move to Bayern Munich.

Perth certainly played its role with brilliant noise from both sets of fans, the scoreline was slightly harsh on Palestine who certainly could not be faulted for their industry tonight.

It bodes well for the Socceroos ahead of their next qualifying phase in September, not a bad way to sign off for the moment. Australia certainly enjoyed their homecoming.

Australia 5 Palestine 0 at full time

We have another penalty that nobody in the stadium or in the Socceroos saw.

The referee has got it spot on, Yaser Hamed has given away another one. Hamed had a point with the first penalty perhaps, but he can have no complaints about that as he handballed like a goalkeeper with an outstretched fist.

Nestory Irankunda steps up and gets his first international goal and that’s a very popular one with the fans.

This has been a complete performance from the Socceroos.

Australia 5 Palestine 0 after 85 minutes

I don’t know if we can fully credit the introduction of Oday Dabbagh for Palestine’s increased energy, even at 4-0 down, but he has certainly added a new dimension.

Palestine look a very different side with their top scorer in the mix, not only as a goal threat, but also in his smart link up play.

Kusini Yengi and Mathew Leckie are off, replaced by Cameron Devlin and Jordan Bos.

Australia 4 Palestine 0 after 78 minutes

Despite being 4-0 down, Palestine are still working hard to create chances.

They are enjoying their best period of the game since a very bright opening few minutes that were quelled by the penalty.

Moustafa Zeidan gets Palestine’s first chance that stings the palms of Joe Gauci in the Australian goal.

It’s impressive industry from Palestine who are refusing to give up. Oday Dabbagh is showing his quality up front and his experience with Charleroi in the top Belgian league, providing the Socceroo’s defence with a reason to stay alert.

Australia 4 Palestine 0 after 73 minutes

Keanu Bacchus is replaced by St Pauli’s Connor Metcalfe. A great performance from Bacchus in Perth.

Newcastle Jets’ Apostolos Stamatelopoulos is also finally on to make his debut up front.

Martin Boyle comes off after a incredible night of work, two assists and one goal to make way for Bayern Munich bound Nestory Irankunda.

Australia 4 Palestine 0 after 65 minutes

That was extremely close. Keanu Bacchus puts a beautiful ball for Martin Boyle who tries to chip the goalkeeper who just does enough to palm it away.

Adam Taggart throws his body at the goal and comes off worse in a collision. He limps off the field and wants to continue, but Graham Arnold tells him he’s done enough for tonight. Substitution coming soon and it will be Apostolos Stamatelopoulos making his international debut.

Australia 4 Palestine 0 after 60 minutes.

Australia are absolutely cruising and looking brilliant doing it.

Slick work from Kusini Yengi who threads a ball through to Adam Taggart who unselfishly plays it to Martin Boyle who adds a goal to his two assists. He couldn’t miss.

Boyle has been exceptional tonight on his 29th appearance.

Australia 4 Palestine 0 after 54 minutes

The Socceroos are not regular visitors to Perth, in fact, this is Graham Arnold’s first visit as Australia coach to the ground, but HBF Park is working nicely as a venue tonight.

It’s a nice compact ground with the Palesitne fans still making themselves heard despite the gulf in class so far between the teams.

More Socceroos games in Perth please.

Australia 3 Palestine after 50 minutes

Australia look extremely comfortable and with Palestine offering little goal threat, Graham Arnold will start shuffling the magnets on his board and getting the bench moving.

It will be interesting to see who is coming on, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos could well be getting his debut up front.

Here we go for the second half, no chances so far.

Take away the contention of the penalty and there’s a lot to be happy about as a Socceroos supporter.

There have been strong performances all over the park, with standouts from Keanu Baccus, Martin Boyle, Adam Taggart and Alessandro Circati.

The scoreline gives the idea that Palestine haven’t been in the game which isn’t quite true, they have looked dangerous on the counterattack, but real chances in the final third have been very few and far between.

Expect some movement from both benches in the second half.

This is certainly a far more enjoyable game than the dirge in Dhaka.

Australia 3 Palestine 0 after first half