For much of the first half, the Saudis didn’t look like a team that had qualified four times for the World Cup. It struggled to break down the Hong Kong defense before getting its attack going just before the break.
Al Shabab striker Nasser Al-Shamrani broke the deadlock a minute into first-half stoppage time and Osama Al-Harbi doubled the home side’s lead two minutes later.
The Saudis put the match out of reach when Al-Shamrani scored his second only two minutes after the restart.
The return leg will be in Hong Kong Thursday.
The first-half struggles of Saudi Arabia illustrate it is still not yet back to the form that saw it dominate Asia over the past decade, appearing in the 2006, 2002, 1998 and 1994 World Cups.
It sacked Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro after a stunning 2-1 loss to Syria in the Asian Cup opener. Then it forced out his replacement, Nassir Al-Johar, after the team exited the tournament with a 5-0 loss to Japan in the group stage.
It then went months without hiring a coach before choosing Vasco da Gama coach Ricardo Gomes and then rescinding the offer after rejecting his demands for taking over its national team. It then settled on former Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard to lead the team, just weeks before starting its World Cup campaign.
In the other games, China recovered from an early two-goal deficit to beat lowly-ranked Laos 7-2, while Iran and Qatar got their campaigns off to strong starts with easy victories over Maldives and Vietnam.
Thailand had a 1-0 home win over Palestine to leave that matchup in the balance, and Singapore had an entertaining 5-3 home win over neighbor Malaysia. Four goals from Hasan Abdel Fattah helped Jordan thrash Nepal 9-0 while Lebanon routed Bangladesh 4-0 and Uzbekistan tamed its Central Asian neighbor Kyrgyzstan also by a score of 4-0.
Indonesia, meanwhile, survived a tough test in Turkmenistan, coming away with a 1-1 draw and Iraq got past Yemen 2-0 at home. The United Arab Emirates beat nine-man India 3-0 and Syria got past Tajikistan 2-1, while Kuwait beat the Philippines 3-0.
A humbling home defeat loomed for China when Laos went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute through goals from Soukaphone Vongchiengkham and Visay Phapouvanin.
But the immediate introduction of Yang Xu as a substitute turned the game around as the big striker scored a hat trick and China stormed to a convincing victory.
Another substitute, midfielder Chen Tao, scored two goals, as did former Schalke midfielder Hao Junmin.
China’s state news agency Xinhua said the Chinese Football Association announced that coach Gao Hongbo would be replaced as coach after Thursday’s return leg, and a new man put in charge for the round-robin group-stage third round.
The five-goal buffer should be more than enough for China in the second leg, although in the first round of Asian qualifying, Laos scored six goals in the second leg to overturn a first-leg deficit against Cambodia.
In Tehran, a brace from striker Karim Ansarifard helped three-time Asian Cup champion Iran easily dispatch the Maldives.
Ansarifard opened the scoring in the fourth minute and doubled the host’s advantage in the 62nd before captain Ali Karimi headed home a corner kick from Mohammad Reza Khalatbari five minutes later. Substitute Saeed Daghighi scored the final goal in the 86th from close range.
Iran, which routed the Indian Ocean island nation 17-0 in 1997 to set a World Cup qualifying record, will travel to Maldives for the return leg on Thursday.
With former Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac at the helm, Qatar dominated Vietnam in its match at the air conditioned Al Sadd Stadium in Doha.
Defender Mohammed Kasola opened the scoring for the host, knocking in a close range shot from a header by Bilal Mohammed in the sixth minute. Meshal Mubarak doubled the 2022 World Cup host’s lead in the 50th minute, slotting home a shot from just outside the area. Substitute Yusef Ahmed then put the match out of reach in the 67th after he redirected a volley from Ibrahim Majed into the net.
Vietnam’s only real chance came in the first half when L.C. Vinh’s drive was saved by diving Qatari keeper Qasem Burhan in the 21st minute.
The return leg will be in Vietnam on Thursday.
Thailand was playing its first game under new coach Winfried Schaefer and in unfamiliar surroundings of a new stadium in Buriram in the northeast of the country rather than Bangkok.
The sole goal came in the 18th minute when Palestine’s defense headed away a cross only as far as Jakkraphan Kaewprom, and the Buriram club player saw his shot deflect off an opponent and into the net.
Thailand pressed strongly for a second goal to provide a cushion ahead of the second leg, but Palestine held firm to keep the deficit to one goal.
The two teams met in an Olympic qualifier earlier this year which ended with Thailand winning a penalty shootout but later being disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.
In Singapore, the home team’s victory over a familiar foe put the city-state in a good position to progress to the third round.
Malaysia went ahead in the first minute as striker Safee Sali took advantage of confusion in Singapore’s defense to poke in one of his two goals, but by halftime they were 4-1 down.
Veteran striker Aleksander Duric equalized in the eighth minute and Qiu Li put Singapore ahead in the 21st before quickfire goals just before the break from Mustafic Fahrudin and Shi Jiayi.
Malaysia hit back with two goals in a minute midway through the second half, to Abdul Hadi Yahya and a second for Safee, before 40-year-old Duric scored a potentially crucial fifth for Singapore in the 82nd minute.
In Al Ain, the UAE scored two penalties on their way to beating a undermanned Indian side.
India went a man down when defender Debabrata Roy was sent off in the 19th minute. Things only got worse for India two minutes later, when Hamdan Al-Kamali scored a penalty that resulted in goalkeeper Subrata Pal getting a red card.
The UAE doubled its advantage just before the half-hour mark with another penalty. This time, it was Mohamed Al-Shehhi who successfully converted the spot kick.
But even with the two-man advantage, the UAE was made to work by the Indian squad. It only managed to score a third goal eight minutes from time when Ismail Al-Hammadi made it 3-0.
There were 15 first-leg games being played across Asia on Saturday, with the return legs to be played on Thursday.
The 15 winners will join Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea and Bahrain in the draw for the group-stage third round.
