Uzbekistan exacted revenge against Team Melli , when they won the 5th round encounter 1 -0 in Azadi stadium. The rainy weather reduced the number of the fans to less than half the capacity (43,700 fans)
Team Melli, without the suspended Carlos Queiroz on the bench, started the match with lightning offensive moves in a quest for an early goal to put the pressure on the guests. Through the right flank , the combination of Heydari, Teymourian and Dejagah created many chances for the forwards one such opportunity resulted in a goal scored by Mohammed Nouri, but disallowed by the referee. It was a debatable call as Nouri receiving a diagonal ball from Andranik Teymourian from the right , shot and scored from just outside the box , however the linesman raised flag for offside on Khalatbary, who was in an offside position , but had no effect on the ball.
After 20 minutes of sustained Iranian attacks, that yielded no goal, the Uzbek slowly started coming back into the game and managed to settled down creating some chances of their own.
The rest of the first half was mainly uneventful.
The second half started with Iran playing with ten men as Kari Ansarifard who was supposed to come in for Khalatbary , was unable to start due to administrative delay with his substitution card.
The second half was unlike the first as Team Melli looked slightly jaded. The active right flank which created so many threats in the beginning of the match , was all but disappeared in the 2nd half. The Uzbek were gaining in confidence and although not very open or adventurous, they did create a few chances , mainly through long range shots. Rahmati , however ., was not seriously threatened.
By the midway of this half, the match became quite a scruffy affair; with too many lose balls and wild passes. The slippery surface due to the all night rain, was not helping, although the host, Iran , was more vulnerable exposed with several of the players slipping or missing easy passes.
Almost all the offensive moves of Team Melli was based on sending crosses from the flanks in hope of creating scoring opportunities. However , few , if any of the crosses reached Ansarifard or Ghoocahnejad in the presence of the towering Uzbek defenders.
In the 72nd minute , a foul on the right hand side resulted in a free kick in which Servar Djabarov sent an immaculate cross which was met by Bakatev’s who cleverly dispensed of his marker , Teymourian , to simply flick the ball past the half idle Rahmati.
Iran still had ample time to get a result with some 20 minutes left , but the insistence on the same futile tactics of sending crosses into the opposition box and no other tactical variation , left Team Melli in in a precarious situation.
There was an exciting end with Ansarifard even sending the ball into the Uzbek goal to be ruled offside again., while Dejagah , who was visibly fatigued by the game’s end , also missing a chance to beat the on rushing Uzbek keeper.
At the end , the poor tactics of Team Melli and an offensive record which is the weakest ever in an official competition ( 2 goals in 5 games) by Team Melli , meant that Iran , once again , have to endure some anxious moments in the next round against Qatar. Uzbekistan , meanwhile is comfortably topping the group with 8 points after a slow start to this campaign.
Full match details HERE