Doha: Group C leaders Qatar defeated Hong Kong two goals to nil to maintain their winning streak in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifying at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium here yesterday.

Hassan Khalid Al Haydos gave Qatar the lead in the 20th minute followed by another goal scored by Sebastián Soria in the 87th minute assuring dominance of home team against their Asian counterparts last night.

Qatar dominated from the start combing well and coming with a flurry of moves to unsettle the Hong Kong defense.

Yapp Hung Fai in the Hong Kong goal had a busy first half keeping the Qatar strikers at bay.

The hosts clearly dictated terms in the first half and had 61 per cent ball possession and set the tone of the match by having a clear control over the midfield where 35-year-old Rodrigo Tabata stamped his superiority playing his first match for Qatar.

Qatar started putting the pressure early on against Hong Kong and sustained it .

Hong Kong however came with a break back move. A corner whipped in from the left skips off the turf and found Russell Andy header sailing over the bar.

Qatar celebrated the escape with a goal. A slick move down the left saw the Hong Kong defense split wide opened with a neat cutback finding Haydos waiting unmarked on the penalty spot to rifle home.

The home side were looking dangerous down the left flank with Abdelkarim Hassan - who assisted the first goal - overlapping from full-back with devastating efficiency as the Hong Kong backline can’t seem to contain him.

Time and again Hassan troubled the Hong Kong defense. He bulldozed past Jonathan Sealy to fire a vicious cross through the penalty area just fizzing over fellow full-back Mohamed Musa’s head.

Thereafter Fai in the Hong Kong goal first threw himself at the feet of Musa then diving low to his left to beat away a fierce effort.

Qatar encountered near misses on several occasions after play began in the second half and it was in the 87th minute when they succeeded. Ismaeel Mohammad whipped a ball in from the right and Soria was perfectly placed to prod the ball home from six yards to add more worries for visitors.

Skipper Haydos came close to a lovely second receiving from Abdelkarim Hassan - the same combination as the opener - with a flick for his first touch before volleying straight at Yapp Hung Fai just minutes after.

Coach Daniel Carreno side which had already made it to the next phase of the qualifying now have 21 points.

Qatar have been dominant throughout this round of qualification conceding just two and winning all of their seven games so far and yesterday’s display was just a continuation of that during their unbeaten run.

For Hong Kong yesterday’s was a crucial one if they had to make it to the next phase.

They now sit third in the group with 14 points after eight matches behind China who have the same number of points but have played one match less.

A victory in what is their final group game could have seen them progress to the third round of qualification.

The four second placed teams with the best records in the eight AFC groups will progress to the final round of qualification.

Following completion of the second round of qualifying 12 teams from the AFC - eight group winners including Qatar and the four best losers - will begin competing later this year to secure one of four guaranteed berths in Russia.

The Peninsula