International round-up: Ghoddos stars in Iran’s Asian Cup opener | OneFootball

Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos registered two assists as Iran beat Palestine 4-1 in their Asian Cup Group C opener on Sunday.

Iran opened the scoring in the second minute at the Education City Stadium in Qatar when Ghoddos played the ball to Karim Ansarifard, who curled beyond the keeper and into the far corner.

Ghoddos was the provider again 10 minutes later; his floated free-kick to the far post smartly turned in by Shoja Khalilzadeh.

The Palestinians conceded a third before the break when Mehdi Ghayedi found the bottom corner following a flowing move.

Tamer Seyam pulled one back for Palestine with a close-range header in first-half stoppage-time, but Iran quelled any hopes of a comeback after the break when substitute Sardar Azmoun made it 4-1.

Iran continue their Asian Cup campaign with a game against Hong Kong on Friday (5.30pm kick-off GMT).

Elsewhere, Frank Onyeka played the full 90 minutes as Nigeria were held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea in their opening game of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Iban Salvador gave Equatorial Guinea, who are 46 places below Nigeria in the world rankings, a surprise lead on 36 minutes, but Napoli’s Victor Osimhen nodded in straight from the restart.

Three-time AFCON champions Nigeria are seeking to lift the trophy for the first time since 2013 but could not find a winner after the break.

Nigeria take on host nation Ivory Coast, who beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 on Saturday, on Thursday (5pm kick-off GMT).