Tajikistan 2 - 4 Palestine: Al-Hamlawi double drives Palestine comeback

Palestine beat Tajikistan 4 - 2 on September 28 in a friendly that turned on timing: a goal before half-time, another straight after the restart, then a red card that left Tajikistan chasing with little margin left.

M. Mukhamadiev’s Tajikistan started sharply and led in the 4th minute through Sheriddin Boboev’s penalty. That should have given them control. Instead, it became the opening move in a match Palestine gradually took away from them.

The official lineup feed did not list either team’s formation, and the starting XIs were not supplied in the match data. That means the tactical reading has to come from the event pattern rather than from confirmed shapes.

Match report

Tajikistan had the first green light. Boboev scored from the spot in the 4th minute, giving Mukhamadiev’s team the ideal friendly platform: an early lead, scoreboard pressure and a chance to settle.

Palestine did not fold. Assad Al-Hamlawi equalised in the 21st minute, a goal that mattered beyond the score. It broke Tajikistan’s early grip and moved the match into a more open, unstable phase.

Tajikistan hit back quickly. Nozim Babajanov scored in the 24th minute to make it 2 - 1, restoring the lead and suggesting the first Palestinian response might only be temporary.

It was not.

Al-Hamlawi scored again in first-half stoppage time, with the event feed listing the goal at 45+3. It was the kind of moment that changes the whole dressing-room conversation. Instead of Tajikistan protecting a lead at half-time, Palestine walked in level, with their main finisher on two goals and the momentum shifting.

Then came the decisive blow. Alaa Aladdin Hassan scored in the 46th minute, immediately after the restart. That was the match’s hinge. Palestine had gone from 2 - 1 down to 3 - 2 ahead across stoppage time and the opening minute of the second half.

For Tajikistan, the task became worse in the 53rd minute when Zoir Dzhuraboev was sent off. Down a goal and down a man, Mukhamadiev’s side were forced into damage control as much as pursuit.

Oday Dabbagh scored in the 74th minute to make it 4 - 2 and close the match. Palestine had their fourth goal, and Tajikistan had no route back.

Why Palestine won

Al-Hamlawi changed the game because his two goals arrived at the moments Palestine needed most. The equaliser in the 21st minute answered Tajikistan’s early penalty. His second goal, listed at 45+3, erased Tajikistan’s second lead at the worst possible time for Mukhamadiev’s side.

Hassan then gave Palestine the lead in the 46th minute before Tajikistan had properly reset. That sequence — 45+3 and 46th minute — turned the match.

Dabbagh’s goal in the 74th minute added the final clause. With Tajikistan reduced to 10 men after Dzhuraboev’s red card in the 53rd minute, Palestine managed the game state better and punished the space that came with desperation.

Key events

Match statistics

Official team statistics were not supplied in the data feed.

• Shots on goal: not available
• Total shots: not available
• Possession: not available
• Corners: not available
• Fouls: not available
• Passes: not available
• Expected goals: not available

What it means

For Palestine, this was a strong friendly result because of the response. They trailed twice, scored four times, and had three different scorers, with Al-Hamlawi the clear headline act.

For Tajikistan, the concern is not the early attacking output. Boboev and Babajanov gave them enough to build from. The issue is control: conceding at 45+3, then again in the 46th minute, turned the match before the red card made it almost impossible.

In a wider international friendly window that has already produced statement results, including Kyrgyzstan’s 5 - 0 win over Maldives, Palestine leave with momentum and selection evidence for B. Stange. Tajikistan leave with work for Mukhamadiev before the next squad list is locked.