Japan dent Oman hopes

ABU DHABI, JAN 13 - Four-time winners Japan scraped past a fighting Oman by a solitary goal to move into the last 16 of the Asian Cup 2019 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
With their second straight defeat in Group F, Oman are at the bottom with no points and the result of Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan will effectively decide Oman’s future in the tournament.
Japan are through to next round with six points from two matches.
Japan went ahead in the 28th minute when Genki Haraguchi converted a penalty that came their way after Raed Salah’s clearance effort hit the legs of onrushing Haraguchi inside the penalty box.
Haraguchi’s kick to the left post went just above past a diving Oman goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi for the opening goal.
Oman captain Ahmed Mubarak ‘Kanu’ picked up a yellow card for protesting the penalty decision.
Oman had a strong plea for penalty rejected by Malaysian referee Mohammed Amirul Izwan after a shot by Salah al Yahyaei touched the Japanese defender Yuto Nagatomo’s hand inside Japan penalty area in the final moments of first half.
The match started with a dangerous move by Japan that hit the bar of Oman goalpost. Ritsu Doan’s cross after a dribbling run through right flank met Genki Haraguchi who unleashed a firm hit which touched the bar and went over.
Takumi Minamino got one-to-one with Oman goalkeeper next but was denied by a vigilant Fayez al Rushaidi.
In the 20th minute, Oman missed a goal by whisker when Mohsin al Ghassani, who replaced Khalid al Hajri in the starting line-up, shot just inches away from Japanese right-hand side of goal. Al Ghassani got into the action after connecting a brilliant through pass from Salah al Yahyaei.
In the upcoming minutes, Japan raided Oman penalty area frequently and in the 23rd minute Oman goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi saved a good shot by Takumi Minamino while the rebound was hit firmly by Ritsu Doan but defender Khalid al Braiki came to the rescue for Oman.
In the 36th minute, Ritsu Doan got a yellow card for a tackle.
In the second half, Oman’s Raed Salah was booked for an offence against Ritsu in the 49th minute.
Japan made their first substitution when Koya Kitagawa was replaced by Muto Yoshinori in the 57th minute.
Oman coach Pim Verbeek replaced defensive midfielder Salah al Yahyaei with striker Mohammed al Ghassani in the 67th minute to sharpen their attacks to find an equaliser. Oman replaced Mohsin al Ghassani with Khalid al Hajri in the 77th minute.
Japan made a darting run in the 78th minute but ended at the hands of Fayez al Rushaidi.
Raed Salah’s acrobatic effort went over the bar in the 80th minute as Oman continued their efforts for an equalising goal. Japan pressed for another goal in the next minutes but Oman survived the attempts.
Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu replaced Ritsu Doan with Junya Ito to put fresh legs in their midfield.
Then Japan got a corner but of no avail. Later, Ito’s powerful shot was punched away by Oman custodian Fayez in the 89th minute as the score remained 1-0.
In the added time, Oman won a corner but could not utilise it.
Omani defender Saad al Mukhaini got a yellow for tackling Japanese player in the resulting counter attack. The free kick from outside the penalty box was punched away by the Oman goalkeeper as the action ended at the Zayed Sports City Stadium.