In the first of their two games in their EAFF Finals qualifiers, Taiwan women cruised to a comfortable win against the Northern Mariana Islands that saw the Mulan rarely slip out of cruise control. Besides the goals, Taiwan had several good moments but the reality was that the Marianans played like a team determined to keep the scoreline respectable rather than try to win the game.Indeed, the tone was set within the opening seconds when Northern Mariana started the game on the halfway line and immediately gave the ball away with a misplaced pass. After that, Taiwan dominated possession whilst their opponents sat in front of their penalty box and hoped for the best. Within five minutes, Taiwan had hit the bar via a long shot from Tseng Yun-ching and a Mulan goal felt like a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.

That opening goal arrived with eleven minutes played after Gabrielle Race fouled Tseng right on the edge of the box. Another two inches and Taiwan would have been awarded a penalty but the dead ball was dispatched as if it was from the penalty spot. Hsu Yi-yun had all the time in the world to gather her thoughts and she placed the ball into the top left corner of the goal as if it was a training ground drill.

Four minutes later and Taiwan had doubled up their opponents. With Northern Mariana focused on lone-striker, Su Yu-hsuan, no-one spotted Saki Matsunaga sneaking through the gap. Hsu, however, was very switched on and her pinpoint pass found the onrushing Matsunaga for a headed goal from close range.

Sitting so deep that Northern Mariana sometimes had their entire team in their penalty box, Taiwan would have to labour away in search of another goal but their persistence was eventually rewarded in the fifty-seventh minute. On a substitute, Liu Yu-chiao broke loose down the right and jinked her way past Sophia Quintos. With the fullback beaten, Liu knew what had to happen next and her cross was nodded home by Su Yu-hsuan, who herself had finally escaped the game-long attention of the Northern Mariana center backs.

The rout continued soon after when an increasingly dejected Northern Mariana failed to clear the ball during a corner kick and captain Chen Ying-hui bundled the ball over the line from close range. Taiwan then made it three goals in nine minutes when Liu danced down her flank again, beat Quintos for old times sake and found He Jia-shiuan just across from the six-yard box. With the defense closing her down, He selflessly played the ball across to the next Taiwanese player, allowing Matsunaga– who had once again snuck into the box unnoticed– to tap the ball into an empty net.

For the next twenty minutes, Taiwan kept going but there was no need to push too hard. The game was over as a contest and both sides will need to play each other again in a few days time. The last thing anyone needed was an injury due to someone getting aggrieved or going too hard. Taiwan could have scored more, they played like a team with a job and did it with precision.

Photo Credit: EAFF Match Feed