Mehdi Ghayedi’s first-half goal deep in added time gave Iran a narrow 1-0 win over the UAE in their World Cup qualifier at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on Tuesday.
Defender Khaled Ibrahim saw his clearance blocked by Ghayedi and the Iranian was able to pick up possession drift into the box and fire home inside Khalid Essa's near post via a slight deflection off Khalifa Al Hammadi that left the goalkeeper helpless.
It proved to be the only goal of the game in an absorbing showdown at the packed 25,000 capacity stadium that leaves Iran joint top of Group A with Uzbekistan after successive 1-0 victories and the home side unable to repeat the heroics that saw them beat Qatar in their opening match.
The result maintained Iran’s tight hold of their undefeated record over the UAE, stretching it to 12 wins and three draws in tournament meetings dating back to 1980.
Paulo Bento started with an unchanged line-up with the side that whipped Qatar 3-1 four days ago but they just could not raise the bar against a team that is seeking a fourth consecutive appearance at the World Cup and seventh overall.
The first half was evenly contested with neither side able to take control of the game and few clear-cut chances.
Iran's Saman Ghoddos saw a right-footed strike drift wide of the post early on, while Yahya Al Ghassani’s effort from outside the area was blocked by goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Caio Canedo saw his header from the left side of the six-yard box from a Tahnoon Al Zaabi cross following a set piece drop wide of the target.
After the break, UAE substitute Ali Saleh – scorer against Qatar last week – made an immediate impact with an effort that was saved by Beiranvand but moments later Iran should have doubled their advantage only for sub Sardar Azmoun to get his feet in a tangle and fluff an opportunity from inside the six-yard box.
Azmoun was denied again this time due to a fine save from Essa and while Bento’s men kept the pressure on the other end, the Iranian defence remained solid.
With four minutes to go, UAE thought they had been handed a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty after Ali Saleh's cutback appeared to hit the arm of Iranian defender Saleh Hardani only for the decision to be overruled after VAR review.
While UAE threw caution to the wind after 10 minutes of injury-time but were mostly restricted to speculative efforts from distance with either flew way off target or were comfortably stopped by Beiranvand.
In the other Group A matches, Qatar were held to a 2-2 draw against 10-man North Korea in Laos while table-topping Uzbekistan came out on top 3-2 away to Kyrgyzstan, leaving the UAE third in the table.
The national team's next match is at home to North Korea on October 10 before they take on Uzbekistan five days later in Tashkent.
