SYDNEY: Two goals in two minutes helped Australia secure a 5-1 thrashing of Indonesia on Thursday to inch closer to World Cup qualification as Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert was well beaten in his first game in charge.

Indonesia missed an early penalty before a Martin Boyle spot-kick and a Nishan Velupillay strike inside a frantic opening 20 minutes did the damage at Sydney Football Stadium.

A brace from Jackson Irvine and another by Lewis Miller sealed the win.

"The result today was very important and the fact that we did it with five goals, really pleased," said man-of-the-match Irvine.

But Australian skipper Mat Ryan was not entirely satisfied.

"I think the scoreline flatters us a little bit to be honest," the goalkeeper said. "At the start of the game they had two big chances, and if they put one of them away, it could have been a different game.

"But momentum is an important thing in sport and we've kick-started that winning momentum now in an important (FIFA) window, and it's important we learn and get better."

The win was a huge boost for Tony Popovic's men in the race to come second in Asian Group C behind runaway leaders Japan and automatically qualify for the 48-team tournament in North America next year.

Australia now have 10 points, four clear of Indonesia, with three games to play, including a crunch away fixture against China on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia and China, who meet later in Riyadh, both have six points, as do Bahrain who clash with Japan in Saitama. Japan will book their place at the World Cup if they win.

Just the top two progress automatically, with third and fourth forced into another round of Asian qualifying.