Jordan 2-2 South Korea: Late Al-Arab own-goal spares Reds' blushes
Jordan were denied a first-ever victory over South Korea when Yazan Al-Arab scored an own goal in the 91st minute, resulting in a 2-2 draw in their second Asian Cup Group E game at Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.
The result leaves both teams with four points from two games and opens up the group after Bahrain moved up to three points with a late winner against Malaysia in the other group game.
South Korea had taken the lead with a penalty from Son Heung-min, but an own goal from Park Yong-Woo and a long-range strike from Yazan Al-Naimat made it 2-1 for Jordan before the Arab nation was denied a historic victory.
Ihsan Haddad brought Son down in the box in the fourth minute. The Tottenham Hotspur forward stepped up to take the penalty, but he had to wait five minutes while the referee reviewed the replay and conferred with the VAR team.
He then kept his cool in the face of a barrage of boos from Jordanian fans, scoring with a chipped effort down the middle.
South Korea's first-choice goalkeeper, Kim Seung-gyu, was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament due to a knee injury, and his replacement, Jo Hyeon-Woo, was tested several times, with Jordan's players clearly instructed to shoot from range.
But Jo could do nothing in the 37th minute when Park headed the ball into his own net in an attempt to keep Jordan's center back Al-Arab from scoring.
Jordan continued to apply pressure, and just before halftime, Al-Naimat volleyed into the bottom corner to silence the South Korean fans.
South Korea upped the ante in the second half, but it took 45 minutes before they equalised when Hwang In-beom's shot was deflected into the net by Al-Arab.
Al-Arab had celebrated South Korea's own goal earlier with a somersault and a wild roar near the corner flag, as if he had scored it himself, but he had a sheepish expression after putting the ball in his own net.
South Korea almost won it in the ninth minute of added time when the ball fell to Hong Hyun-seok at the far post on a set piece, but his shot went into the side netting.
Bahrain took all three points from a tense match against Malaysia, with Ali Madan scoring in the 95th minute to boost their qualification hopes.
Madan used the outside of his boot to shoot from the edge of the box, and his strike went through a crowd of defenders and beat the keeper, causing wild celebrations in the dugout, while some of his teammates collapsed on the pitch in relief.
SportsLigue