The man charged with keeping Australia's midfield ticking over, Jackson Irvine is now also delivering a lion's share of the Socceroos' Asian Cup goals.
Fresh off scoring Australia's opening goal of the Qatar tournament in the opening 2-0 win over India, Irvine added his 11th international goal by toe-poking home the winner in the 1-0 victory over Syria on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
In the process, the Socceroos sealed progression to the round-of-16 with a game to spare - next Tuesday's (Wednesday AEDT) clash with Uzbekistan.
"You gotta be in there to score," Irvine said.
"We've got good quality in the final third, in the wide areas, and if you get yourself in there enough times, sometimes they drop for you."
One of the most experienced heads in the Socceroos, Irvine is the second-most prolific scorer in the 26-man squad, between Mitch Duke (13 goals) and Harry Souttar (10).
Coach Graham Arnold was delighted with the 30-year-old's goalscoring purple patch.
"One of the things we've been working on is Jackson," he said.
"He gets into the box well, and he has goalscoring ability
"We focus quite a bit on our defence, but Jackson's now scored two goals in two games, and he's getting in those positions to score, which is important."
Arnold and Irvine both stressed the importance of the disciplined performance, especially with a relatively inexperienced squad.
Both were confident Australia would improve with the ball after struggling to break down both India and Syria.
"It was difficult," Irvine said.
"For it's about finding those solutions and breaking down different kinds of teams and a very different kind of opponent to the first game against India.
"And we're gonna get asked different questions by different opponents as the tournament progresses.
"A lot of guys are playing in their first tournaments and maybe not used to these kinds of games.
"But the spirit and the culture around the group gives us the platform to perform and we back each other all the way.
"Today, you've got to find that little moment that can win you a game and fortunately it fell to me again today."
