Iran’s injury-time penalty dumps Japan out of Asian Cup and seals famous win
Iran knocked out Japan, four times the champions, with a 2-1 victory in their Asian Cup quarter-final clash after their captain, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, converted a penalty in stoppage time at Qatar’s Education City Stadium.
Iran had not beaten Japan in 19 years while their victory also extended Amir Ghalenoei’s unbeaten streak to 16 matches since he took charge in March.
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After a cagey start to a physical contest, Japan took the lead through Hidemasa Morita, who made a run past four defenders before beating Alireza Beiranvand in goal to silence the Iran fans in the stadium.
But Iran equalised 10 minutes into the second half with a sublime passing move where Sardar Azmoun played the ball through to Mohammad Mohebi, who ran around his marker before slipping his shot past Suzuki into the bottom corner.
Japan had dominated possession in the first half but it was Iran who controlled proceedings after the equaliser as they initiated wave after wave of attacks and the pressure finally paid off in second-half added time.
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Japan’s Ko Itakura made a mess of a clearance in the 94th minute and, as he tried to recover, he tripped Hossein Kanani in the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot, with Jahanbakhsh sending a fierce strike whistling into the top corner.
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Iran will play Qatar in the last four, with Jordan playing South Korea in the other semi-final.