Hibs pair Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine help Australia to record-breaking win against Jordan
Hibs duo Martin Boyle and Jackson Irvine helped Australia to a 1-0 win against Jordan in Kuwait last night.
The narrow success is the Socceroos’ eighth consecutive victory in 2022 World Cup qualifying and signalled an end to this international break.
Not even a localised power outage could stop Australia from recording another win although they were made to work hard for the points by a dogged Jordan side.
In the opening exchanges Irvine burst through from midfield before sending a fierce effort narrowly over the bar, but his Easter Road team-mate Boyle was the livelier of the two, bending a free kick just wide of Yasin Mutaz’s goal before setting up Harry Souttar for the winner from a corner on 77 minutes shortly after substitute James Holland had smacked an effort off the upright and Trent Sainsbury, winning his 50th cap, headed just wide.
Boyle later made way for Awer Mabil on 83 minutes with Mousa Al-Tamari seeing red for Jordan after an altercation with Aziz Behich.
Graham Arnold's men now advance to the third stage of qualifying with eight straight victories and a maximum 24 points for the first time ever.
Speaking after the game, Arnold said: “I’m so proud because of what these boys have done with winning seven games away from home, eight straight. The heat was brutal – 47 degrees – and these boys played as though it wasn’t hot at all.
"Where are we at [as a team]? I reckon we’re at about 25 per cent of where we’ll end up,” he added.