Kuala Lumpur:

Iran survived an early scare to beat Uzbekistan 2-1 on Wednesday and take a big step towards the Asian Cup knock-out stages.

Defender Rahman Rezaei put the triple-champions in trouble with a first-half own goal before Seyed Jalal Hosseini levelled and substitute Javad Kazemian took the points with a late winner.

Iran trail China on goal-difference at the top of Group C with the top two teams progressing to the quarter-finals. They play China on Sunday and Malaysia on Wednesday.

In Jakarta, a controversial penalty earned Saudi Arabia a share of the spoils as they drew 1-1 in a crunch group D match against South Korea on Wednesday. The game was held up for 25 minutes after a power failure plunged half the ground into darkness with just five minutes to play.