2015 AFC Asian Cup Group A

In the quarter-finals: Hussain Fadhel's eighth-minute header briefly dampened spirits at a sold-out Melbourne Rectangular Stadium only for Massimo Luongo to set up Tim Cahill to equalise with his 37th international goal, 12 minutes before half-time.

After Luongo headed home his first for the Socceroos at the end of the first half, a penalty from captain Mile Jedinak two minutes after the hour mark and a late strike from James Troisi secured all three points for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finalists in the Group A opener.

[2] Looking to build on reaching the final of the last edition in Qatar, Australia made a bright start on a chilly evening, but the home side were stunned after just eight minutes as Fadhel stooped at the near post to direct a diving header from Abdulaziz Al Masha'an's right wing corner low past goalkeeper Mathew Ryan having broken clear of defender Trent Sainsbury.

Australia were able to double their advantage two minutes after the hour mark as captain Jedinak confidently sent Hameed Youssef the wrong way from the penalty spot after Robbie Kruse had been upended by Sultan Al Enezi just inside the area.

[3] Kuwait came close to setting up a tense finish as only a finger-tip save from Ryan turned Fahad Al Ansari's superb 71st minute effort onto the crossbar, before Australia substitute Nathan Burns followed suit soon after with an acrobatic glancing header at the other end.

A flurry of attacking substitutions in the final 30 minutes did see Oman threaten to level the game, notably through Amad Al-Hosni who had a header tipped onto the crossbar in added time, but South Korea held on to move into second place behind Australia.

With a rainy conditions in the Australian capital, South Korea had their first chance on five minutes as midfielder Koo Ja-cheol cut in from the left-hand side and fired in a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Ali Al-Habsi got down low to his right to tip around the post.

Although, South Korea began to stamp their authority on the game, with six minutes of the half remaining Kim Ju-young brought down Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali and from 20 yards out Al Farsi bent the ball marginally wide of the far post.

South Korea continued as they had left off after the break and four minutes after the restart, Lee drove a low shot into the side netting and then Al-Habsi pulled off a fine reaction save to tip over Koo's header from point-blank range.

Oman coach Paul Le Guen made attacking replacements in the final half hour by bringing on Al-Hosni and Mohsin Al-Khaldi in an attempt to restore parity and on 76th minutes Al-Muqbali had a golden chance to equalize when Ali Al-Busaidi picked him out all alone in the penalty area but the forward's first touch was poor and South Korea cleared their lines.

The West Asians continued to put in an improved performance thereafter as South Korea sat back, and in stoppage time Al-Hosni's goal-bound header from a corner was dramatically touched onto the crossbar by Kim Jin-hyeon as Uli Stielike's side narrowly escaped to take all three points.

But by the half hour mark, the match finally came into life as Kim Min-woo sent Lee Keun-ho through on goal, but Kuwait goalkeeper Hameed Youssef stood up well to get a hand to the Korean striker's attempted lob and he batted the ball over the crossbar.

Coach Nabil Maâloul threw on star forward Bader Al-Mutawa with just under half an hour remaining as Kuwait pushed for a leveler but it was Korea who went closest to netting next as Kim Min-woo forced a solid save from Youssef as he unleashed an angled drive from inside of the penalty area following a one-two with Lee Keun-ho.

[13] Abdulaziz Al Misha'an went close with a near post attempt before Park Joo-ho and Lee Jung-hyup both had efforts well-saved as the game ended in frenetic fashion with neither team able to make further incursions into the scoreline as Korean fans celebrated in the stands.

Three minutes later the Australians doubled their advantage, with Kruse this time starting and finishing a fine move with a run from just inside his own half, laying the ball off to Massimo Luongo, whose return pass the Bayer Leverkusen striker slipped under Ali Al-Habsi.

The loss was Australia's first defeat on home soil since losing to Kuwait in qualifying for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in March 2009, means the Koreans top Group A and would play either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals in Melbourne.

Despite having Park Joo-ho off the pitch receiving treatment following a clash with Nathan Burns that earned the Australian striker a yellow card, the Koreans took the lead following a fine move instigated by Ki Sung-yueng and finished off by Lee Jeong-hyeop.