Iran blow two-goal lead

Kuwait fell behind after only two minutes as Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht gave Iran the perfect start and Seyed Jalal Hosseini doubled the advantage for Ali Daei's side a couple of minutes later.

Ahmed Ajab pulled a goal back for Kuwait on 38 minutes before second half substitute Fahad Al Rashidi headed home the equaliser with nine minutes remaining to salvage a point for the home team.

Iran enjoyed an impressive start and had a 2-0 lead after only four minutes.

They opened the scoring after 90 seconds after a deep free-kick by Seyed Jalal Hosseini found Nikbakht.

With his back to the goal, the 27-year-old Perspolis midfielder stopped the ball with his chest before launching a bicycle kick past Kuwait goalkeeper Khaled Al Fadhli.

Hosseini went from provider to scorer two minutes later after a blunder by Al Fadhli gifted Iran a second goal.

Hosseini sent another free-kick into the Kuwait penalty box and it appeared that Al Fadhli had the ball covered but the 33-year-old bumped into his own defender, Hussein Fadel, and fell to the ground, allowing the ball to enter the empty net.

Kuwait should have pulled a goal back on eight minutes when Jarrah Al Ataiqi had a powerful shot from inside the area saved by Iran goalkeeper Seyed Mehdi Rahmati.

The home side had another chance seven minutes later when an acrobatic shot by Ajab from inside the area went wide while Hussein Fadel sent his header over the crossbar on the half-hour mark.

Kuwait eventually pulled a goal back in the 38th minute when Hosseini attempted to head the ball back to his goalkeeper but Ajab was faster than Rahmati and place his right-footed shot into the far right corner.

Kuwait went close again on 56 minutes when Mesaed Nada’s powerful free-kick went near the left upright and two minutes later, Bader Al Mutawa’s shot from inside the area came back off the far post.

In the 65th minute, Al Mutawa found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat but Rahmati palmed his shot away for a corner.

Gacanin brought in Al Rashidi and the Al Hazm striker had the ball in the net in the 77th minute but the effort was disallowed for offside.

However, he was not to be denied on 81 minutes when Mohamad Jarragh crossed from the left for an unmarked Al Rashidi to score with a powerful header to the left of Seyed Mehdi Rahmati.

Iran could have regained the lead with four minutes remaining when Nikbakht met a cross from the right with a first-time volley that went wide.

Kuwait finished the game with only 10 players as defender Mesaed Nada was sent off in the stoppage time for a bad tackle on Ebrahim Sadeghisenjani.