Korea Republic came from a goal down to win 2-1 against Uzbekistan in their 2018 Group A World Cup Qualifier at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.
- Korea Republic 1 Uzbekistan 1
- Bikmaev scores opener
- Uzbekistan hold lead till HT
- Taehee Nam levels matters
- Koo Ja-cheol nets winner
Match summary
Marat Bikmaev profited from a goalkeeping error in the first-half to hand Samvel Babayan's side an unlikely lead.
Just after the hour mark midfielder Nam Tae-hee made it 1-1 with a headed effort.
Five minutes from time, influential midfielder Koo Ja-cheol won it for the home side.
Full report
After a tense opening to the game in Seoul, the home side looked to dominate possession as head coach Uli Stielike implemented an agressive attacking approach.
However, this led to the Reds being susceptible to counter attacks and Krasnodor midfielder Odil Ahmedov nearly made the most of it – when he was handed the opportunity to strike from range.
However, his looping effort went just wide of Kim Seunggyu's left-hand post, which sparked new energy in the away side.
Midway through the half Samvel Babayan's side were gifted the lead after Seunggyu's misjudgment and poor clearance allowed Marat Bikmaev to lob the goalkeeper and open the scoring.
The goal came against the run of play, but going into half-time the hosts knew they were guilty of some sloppy play.
Stielike's half-time team-talk must have given his men a wake up call as Tottenham's Son Heung-min looked menacing going forward, but to his dismay, he found goalkeeper Davronbek Khashimov in superb form.
Khashimov, didn't manage to hold out though – just before the hour mark, Korea got their deserved equaliser through midfielder Taehee Nam.
Park Joo-ho was set free down the left flank just before the Uzbek penalty area, and his first-time cross looked to surprise Aleksandr Lobanov who watched Taehee head past his keeper.
The goal brought renewed optimism to the home crowd as time wore on, with the Uzebeki defence standing firm, while a sense of frustartion loomed over the national stadium.
But Korea were not to be denied, as Augsburg midfielder Koo Ja-cheol netted five minutes before time.
A long ball over from substitute Hong Chul was nodded down superbly by fellow sub Kim Shinwook, who made a huge impact after his introduction, and the German-based midfielder raced onto the loose ball to fire home.
The massive result now sees the home side move to 10 points after their first five games, one point ahead of Uzbekistan – in third place.
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