Asian Cup 2019: UAE v Australia as it happened - UAE win 1-0 thanks to Ali Mabkhout strike

Alberto Zaccheroni's men triumph in Al Ain to reach semi-finals for second successive tournament

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22.15 Celebrations begin

Hard to make out who was the more overjoyed. The players or the fans at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium as the UAE reflect on reaching the Asian Cup semi-finals for the second successive tournament.

Alberto Zaccheroni will quickly try and turn his players attention to Tuesday's semi-final with Qatar at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium.

The first semi-final takes place on Monday between Iran and Japan.

Read John McAuley's on the whistle match report on the game here.

That concludes the live blog of tonight's action. Thanks for reading and see you on Tuesday for the semi-final with Qatar.

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22.00 UAE have done it

UAE win 1-0. Incredible scenes as the players celebrate after more than 10 minutes of stoppage time. They will now face Qatar for a place in the final on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.

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21.45 Nervy times

UAE just need to keep this simple but they give away a silly free-kick on the edge of the area that comes to nothing.

To add to the problems Ismail Al Hammadi is carried off and with UAE having already used all three substitutes they are down to 10 men.

Two minutes and stoppage time to go.

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21.40 Looking good

If Australia were looking to hit back hard at the UAE then they have failed to do so.

UAE continue to look comfortable and they have eight minutes and stoppage time to play out.

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21.30 UAE lead!

The UAE are 22 minutes from reaching the Asian Cup final.

Ali Mabkhout latches on to a short back pass from Milos Degenek and rounds Mat Ryan to slot into the empty net.

Slightly against the run of play but the UAE now just need to do what they have been doing and ride out the Australia pressure.

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21.25 Scare for the UAE

The ball is in the UAE net. But it does not count as Apostolos Giannou's effort is ruled out for offside and the decision is backed up by VAR.

Still 0-0 and 25 minutes to go.

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21.15 Busy start to second half

Australia have begun the second half as they ended the first - largely controlling the possession.

Robbie Kruse goes close with a looping header but UAE are largely content just to try and break up the Australian play when they can.

UAE have made their second change with captain Ismail Matar replaced by Mohamed Abdulrahman.

Anyone's game at this point. Still 0-0 after 55 minutes

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20.50 No goals after 45 minutes 

Half time probably coming at a good time for the UAE. Australia were just starting to take control of midfielder and push the UAE back.

But right on the interval the UAE should take the lead. Matar's free-kick is deflected into the path of Ali Mabhkout, who heads over from close range when anything on target would surely have found the net.

A good half altogether from the UAE. Another 45 minutes like that could be enough to put them in the last four.

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20.30 Still goalless

Zaccheroni is likely to be happy with his lot so far. The UAE have looked dangerous at times and they have limited Australia's attacking threat.

They still look susceptible to aerial balls though and another corner in the 30th minute is scrambled away.

UAE need to keep their momentum up and not let the nervous Australians settle.

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20.20 Substitution for the UAE

The good news for Alberto Zaccheroni's side is they are holding their own in the opening stages.

But they have had to make an early change as defender Mohamed Gharib is injured and he is replaced by Khalifa Mubarak.

The UAE respond by creating their best chance so far. Al Hammadi finds space again on the left and cuts in, but his shot is straight at Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan, who parries the ball away. Still 0-0.

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20.05 Early opportunities

Good start from the UAE. Ismail Al Hammadi finds space on the left and his shot is deflected wide, though if he had his time again he might have squared a pass to the better placed Ismail Matar.

Australia have also gone close with Trent Sainsbury disappointed not to do better with a free header at the back post other then put it over.

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19.55 Big match feel

The Hazza bin Zayed Stadium is packed and the atmosphere is growing as we in the final seconds before kick off.

The AFC did their bit to make sure no-one had a wasted trip trying to get to the stadium tonight.

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19.50 The big kick-off

We are 10 minutes away from the quarter-final clash and can the UAE produce a big performance and keep their hopes of winning the Asian Cup on home turf alive?

They need to get past the defending champions Australia to do it and the UAE will have a lot of mental hurdles to get past if they are going to progress to the semi-finals.

They lost to Australia four years ago, at the last-four stage, and were beaten twice by them in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

But UAE are unbeaten in the tournament, even if their football has not always hit the high standards manager Alberto Zaccheroni will have wanted.

They rode their luck in the last 16 on Monday as they beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 in extra time, but they can take solace from the fact Australia have not been pulling up any trees either.

They lost their opening game to Jordan, qualified as Group B runners-up and needed penalties to see off Uzbekistan on Monday.

It should be an intense night and stay with us for updates throughout the evening.