Asian Cup debutants Tajikistan qualified for the last 16 in dramatic fashion as it came from behind to snatch a last-gasp 2-1 victory over 10-man Lebanon in Group A after scoring their first ever goals in the tournament on Monday.
Having had two goals ruled out by VAR and finding itself 1-0 down, Tajikistan did not let up and scored through Parvizdzhon Umarbayev as the skipper found the top corner from a free kick in the 80th minute.
The winner came in added time from Nuriddin Khamrokulov whose effort looped over goalkeeper Mostafa Matar to seal a historic win for Tajikistan, who finished second in the group with four points behind table-toppers Qatar.
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Lebanon took the lead two minutes into the second half when Bassel Jradi curled a shot from the edge of the box past the outstretched hand of keeper Rustam Yatimov to bring the crowd to their feet.
But Lebanon was reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute when Kassem El Zein was sent off after a stamp for which he initially received a yellow card before VAR asked the referee to take a second look and it was upgraded to red.
Qatar, who had already won the group and sealed a last-16 place, rested key players but still beat China 1-0 after captain Hassan Al-Haydos scored the winner with a fantastic volley from a corner after 66 minutes to give the hosts maximum points.
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