At a typically atmospheric Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent, home favourite Eldor Shomurodov gave Uzbekistan the lead on 16 minutes, only to see Salman Al Faraj restore parity from the spot shortly after.

Uzbekistan went ahead for a second time in the 56th minute courtesy of an Otabek Shukurov penalty, before Al Faraj scored his second goal on the night with five minutes remaining and Salem Al Dawsari netted a late winner as Saudi Arabia claimed their second win of the Asian Qualifiers.

China PR and Islamic Republic of Iran suffered defeats, as did the United Arab Emirates while Korea Republic were held to a goalless draw by a battling Lebanon in Beirut.

Australia and Japan stayed perfect as they both recorded their fourth consecutive wins while Saudi Arabia showed great determination, twice coming from behind to defeat Uzbekistan.

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It was a crucial win for Saudi Arabia, who went into the tie trailing Uzbekistan in the standings, as the three-time Asian Cup winners moved to the top of Group D.

Winless in their opening three matches, Yemen climbed from fifth to third in Group D with the victory, which was secured thanks to Omar Abdullah Al Dahi’s second-half strike.

Palestine, who played the majority of the match with 10 men after the early dismissal of Mahmoud Abu Warda, dropped one place to fourth, missing the opportunity to climb as high as second at the halfway point of this stage of the Asian Qualifiers.

Substitute Ali Abbas’ added-time strike secured the victory for Iraq who took the lead through Mohanad Ali after just 11 minutes before Iran drew level in the 25th minute through Ahmed Nourollahi.

The 31-year-old midfielder sparked a brilliant comeback for Malaysia, who trailed to Chanathip Songkrasin’s early strike, before Gan scored one and assisted the winning goal for Mohamadou Sumareh in the second half.

It was the East Asians second draw, having been held 0-0 by DPR Korea in Pyongyang last month, but Son and Hwang admitted that the Taeguk Warriors should have taken full points against Lebanon.