In an intense and entertaining match, Javad Nekounam looked to have done enough to put Iran on top of Group Two at the halfway stage only for the Manchester United man to earn a deserved draw for the Taeguk Warriors.
The point keeps South Korea on top of Group Two with eight points. North Korea, who defeated Saudi Arabia earlier in the day, are second with seven while Iran now have six points and are third.
Iran started brightly and Nekounam should perhaps have given the hosts an early lead in the seventh minute but the Osasuna midfielder headed a left-sided corner over the bar.
Jung Sung-hoon returned the favour ten minutes later, failing to take the opportunity to open his account for the Korean national team.
Team Melli had a big penalty shout turned down in the 25th minute.
Vahid Hashemian worked hard in the right corner to send a ball into the box. nipped in front of Hossein Kazemi Cho Yong Hyong and looked to have been brought down by the Jeju defender but the Australian referee waved play on, much to the displeasure of the home fans.
After creating next to nothing in the early exchanges, Korea controlled the last 15 minutes of the first period and had a great chance to take the lead even minutes before the break.
Ki Sung-yung’s set pieces were causing problems and a left-sided corner kick found its way to Kang Min-soo at the far post but the lanky defender skied his shot over the bar.
The impressive Ki was in the thick of the action. His decision to go for goal from a free-kick 40 yards out surprised Seyed Rahmati and the Iranian goalkeeper could only parry a fierce shot out for a corner.
Rahmati was becoming busy and had to be alert and agile to block a fierce shot from Yeom Ki-hoon, introduced to replace the injured Jung, that looked destined for the far corner.
After a quite start to the second half, Iran broke the deadlock in fine style just before the hour. Nekounam curled a perfect free-kick over the Korean wall and into the top corner of the net to give Lee Woon-jae no chance.
The fans were still celebrating as Korea missed a glorious opportunity to go level. Oh Beom-seok got behind the Iranian backline to float over a perfect cross from the right only for Lee Keun-ho to send his powerful header onto the crossbar.
The equalizer came with nine minutes remaining. Ki tried to emulate Nekounam’s free-kick accuracy only for Mahmati to block the shot.
Fortunately for the visitors, Park was on hand to head the rebound home from close range to silence over 70,000 fans at the Azadi Stadium.
source : Goal.com
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