Iran 1 - South Korea 0; Uzbekistan 1 - Qatar 0

Qatar welcomed Uzbekistan to Doha for the first qualifier of the day.  Qatar had the majority of the attacking ideas on the night, but that did not stop Uzbekistan from converting one of their few chances  a dozen minutes into the match as a Akmal Shorakmedov cross was laced home on the volley from the penalty spot by Sanjar Tursonov.  Qatar defender Lawrence Quaye had a go from distance, but Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov dove to knock the ball to safety.  Nesterov was called upon again at the stroke of halftime to tip aside a header from Wesam Abdulmajid.  The half ended 1-0 to the visitors.

Uzbekistan had no motivation to go forward in the second half, but their defense was quite stout.  The heat began to slow do the Qataris as they were forced to do all the running in search of the equalizer.  By the end of the match, Uzbekistan were simply knocking the ball around as a tired Qatar were trying to summon energy to steal the ball.  The final whistle blew to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 win and a ticket off the bottom of the table in Group One.

Tehran's famed Azadi Stadium raucously greeted Iran as the home side took on group leaders South Korea. Twenty minutes into the match, Reza Ghoochannejhad ripped a shot from twenty-one yards to force a sprawling save by Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong.  From there on out until halftime, the Taeguek Warriors were on the offensive.  A Kim Bo-Kyung header crashed the underside of the bar over the outstretched hands of the Iran goalkeeper, but the ball somehow came down on the line and spun back out without scoring.  Iran were relieved to go into their locker room tied at zero goals apiece.

Masoud Shojaei made a terrible challenge in minute 56 on Oh Beom-Seok, leading to his second yellow card and expulsion.  Team Melli did not suffer as badly from being a man down as one would have expected playing against a powerful team like South Korea.  In fact, Team Melli outplayed the visitors over the final half hour.  With a dozen minutes left in the match, a short free kick for Iran was deflected to the penalty spot, from where Jevad Nekounam half-volleyed into the bottom corner to give Iran a lead they would not relinquish.  Iran win 1-0 to go joint-top of the group with South Korea.

South Korea 7 pts +5
Iran 7 pts +1
Uzbekistan 5 pts 0
Qatar 4 pts -3
Lebanon 4 pts -3

Goals
Uzbekistan
Sanjar Tursunov 13

Iran
Jevad Nekounam 78

Match Reports:
http://football.thestar.com.my/2012/10/16/uzbekistan-beat-qatar-to-reignite-world-cup-hopes/
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785975/index.html
http://www.sbnation.com/2014-world-cup-qualifying/2012/10/16/3512734/iran-vs-south-korea-final-score-match-report-result
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/10/16/10-man-iran-downs-south-korea-1-0-in-qualifier/

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OfZqjQeBAM (Uzbekistan v. Qatar)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9HbplOeJbY (Iran v. South Korea)