2019 AFC Asian Cup Group F
In the 12th minute, Japan had the first chance of the game, with Ritsu Dōan failing to beat Mammet Orazmuhammedow with a close-range header following a Takehiro Tomiyasu pass.
Four minutes later Japan took the lead when Saparow's blunder allowed Yuto Nagatomo to find Osako, who scored to bag his second goal of the match.
[4] Man of the Match: Yuya Osako (Japan) Assistant referees: Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) Fourth official: Mohamad Zainal Abidin (Malaysia) Additional assistant referees: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore) Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia) In the 14th minute, Oman came close to scoring through Ahmed Kano’s header which was saved by Uzbek goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov.
Japan broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, Haraguchi picked himself up after being up-ended in the area by Raed Ibrahim Saleh to ram home the resulting spot-kick beyond Faiz Al-Rushaidi’s dive.
An acrobatic Saleh attempt from an Al-Mukhaini cross 10 minutes later and Al-Rushaidi’s last gasp save from substitute Junya Itō proved to be the final goalmouth action of the day.
[7] Man of the Match: Takumi Minamino (Japan) Assistant referees:[8] Mohd Yusri Muhamad (Malaysia) Mohamad Zainal Abidin (Malaysia) Fourth official: Anton Shchetinin (Australia) Additional assistant referees: Peter Green (Australia) Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea) The two Turkic neighbours have met each other in 2004 edition, where Uzbekistan prevailed with a 1–0 win.
Muhsen went for the spectacular in the 68th minute with an overhead kick which Orazmuhammedow saved and the goalkeeper stood tall again just seconds later to deny Kano on the left, with the ball seemingly headed for the top of the net.
[10] Man of the Match: Ahmed Kano (Oman) Assistant referees:[11] Yaser Tulefat (Bahrain) Mohamed Salman (Bahrain) Fourth official: Miguel Hernández (Mexico) Additional assistant referees: César Ramos (Mexico) Khamis Al-Kuwari (Qatar) Koya Kitagawa forced Ignatiy Nesterov into action 10 minutes before the break when his shot on the turn was tipped over by the keeper.
With five minutes left in the half, Uzbekistan took the lead, Eldor Shomurodov latched on to Dostonbek Khamdamov’s through ball to outpace Tomoaki Makino before stepping inside Genta Miura and clipping the finish into the top corner with the outside of his right boot.
The lead, though, was to last only three minutes as Sei Muroya turned on the left touchline before outstripping Farrukh Sayfiev and sending over a cross towards Yoshinori Muto, who rose to power his header home.
Davron Khashimov forced Daniel Schmidt to tip his long-range drive over the bar in the final minutes as Japan closed out the game to take their third win in a row and advance to the next round with a perfect record.
