2019 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
Jordan came close in the 20th minute when Musa Al-Taamari lured three defenders out of position before his back-heel pass found Feras Shelbaieh, whose cross to Yaseen Al-Bakhit saw his effort going wide.
Vietnam's Trần Minh Vương also missed but Bùi Tiến Dũng made no mistake as the Southeast Asian side advanced to the quarter-finals.
Man of the Match: Nguyễn Quang Hải (Vietnam) Assistant referees:[5] Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammadreza Mansouri (Iran) Fourth official: Abu Bakar Al-Amri (Oman) Additional assistant referees: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq) Liu Kwok Man (Hong Kong) China PR have only faced Thailand once in the AFC Asian Cup, back in 1992 which ended in a 1–1 draw.
A flying save from Yan Junling deep into injury time following Pansa Hemviboon's shot ensured the East Asian representative to win their first knockout stage match since 2004 and progress to the next round.
Oman were awarded a penalty in the third minute when Majid Hosseini brought down Muhsen Al-Ghassani, only for Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to tip Ahmed Kano’s effort from 12 yards around the post.
Iran broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute, Alireza Jahanbakhsh fired home after Mohammed Al-Musalami had failed to cut out Milad Mohammadi’s long ball.
[7] Man of the Match: Alireza Beiranvand (Iran) Assistant referees:[5] Miguel Hernández (Mexico) Alberto Morín (Mexico) Fourth official: Matthew Cream (Australia) Additional assistant referees: Chris Beath (Australia) Ali Sabah (Iraq) Japan and Saudi Arabia have met each other in four previous Asian Cup editions, with Japan holding the better record with only one loss and four wins.
Japan came close six minutes later with Ritsu Dōan finding space in the danger area after collecting Takumi Minamino’s pass but saw his effort blocked by the Saudi defence.
With five minutes left in the half, Hattan Bahebri muscled his way into the box, but his curling shot flew past the right post, as Japan stayed ahead going into the break.
In the 73rd minute, Abdullah Otayf found Housain Al-Mogahwi lurking in the box but the midfielder sent his header high above the bar as Japan soaked up the pressure to seal their quarter-final spot.
In the second half, Jamie Maclaren’s blocked shot looped up for Rhyan Grant to head into the hands of Ignatiy Nesterov while the full-back was also on the end of Milos Degenek’s diagonal ball, sending his header over the bar from an acute angle.
Kyrgyzstan bounced back shortly before the half-hour mark, Akhlidin Israilov’s pass found Mirlan Murzaev who rounded UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa and finished to draw his side level.
After the break, Ali Mabkhout headed Bandar Al-Ahbabi’s cross inches wide of the post, before a curling Valery Kichin delivery thudded against Eisa’s crossbar with the custodian beaten.
Two minutes from the half-time whistle, Son Heung-min laid a pass to Lee Yong on the right flank, who then sent the ball into the box which was blocked by goalkeeper Sayed Shubbar Alawi, only for it to land at Hwang Hee-chan’s feet who then tapped it into the net.
The Korean defence was breached for the first time in the tournament when Mohamed Al Romaihi slammed the ball into the net after Hong Chul had made a last ditch clearance of Mahdi Al-Humaidan’s attempt.
Hatem came close to connecting with Abdelkarim’s whipped delivery, only for goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb to then dive at the feet of an onrushing Mohanad Ali to repel Iraq’s opening attack of the tie.
[14] Man of the Match: Akram Afif (Qatar) Assistant referees:[13] Ronnie Koh Min Kiat (Singapore) Sergei Grishchenko (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Rashid Al-Ghaithi (Oman) Additional assistant referees: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka) Ahmed Al-Ali (Jordan) Koya Kitagawa’s pass to Genki Haraguchi in the 23rd minute was slid out of play by Vietnamese defender Đỗ Duy Mạnh.
The Iranians then spurned a chance to double their advantage when Hossein Kanaanizadegan found Taremi from Ashkan Dejagah’s free kick only to somehow miss the target from only three yards.
Moments later, midfielder Hwang In-beom curled a shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area after Qatar had failed to adequately deal with Lee Yong's free kick.
In the 68th minute, Mabkhout put the UAE ahead with their first opening of the second period, the forward stepped in to intercept Milos Degenek's back-pass before rounding Ryan to score.
Yuya Osako's ball found space behind Alireza Jahanbakhsh and the advancing Yuto Nagatomo sent in a low cross, but Takumi Minamino missed his chance.
[21] For Iran, this loss meant that the country's Asian Cup thirst has been extended to 47 years since the last win on home soil back in 1976 and for Japan, since the professionalisation of football in the 1990s, they have made it into the final in five out of eight tournaments, which remains a record.
The UAE responded through an Ismail Al Hammadi header which was saved by Saad Al-Sheeb and a similar effort from Ali Mabkhout that fizzed wide of the target shortly before the half-hour mark.
[29] Abdulaziz Hatem scored Qatar's next goal in the 27th minute, shooting from 25 yards (75 ft) past Japanese goalkeeper Shūichi Gonda towards the top corner.
[28] Japan regained possession and found several scoring chances before and after halftime, including a missed header from Yoshinori Muto and several corner kicks, but were unable to produce a shot on goal.
