First half goals from Lee Dong-jun and Cho Gue-sung gave Kim Hak-bum’s side a two-goal half-time buffer, but Reza Shekari’s effort nine minutes after the interval meant the Koreans had to negotiate a difficult period in order to extend their winning start to the competition.

Their perfect tally of six points from two matches means they are sure to advance to the knockout stage no matter what happens in Wednesday’s match against Uzbekistan, while Iran’s hopes of ending a 44-year Olympic qualification drought now weighs heavily on their final group stage fixture against China PR.

With one game each still to play, the result sees Saudi Arabia move to four points following their impressive defeat of Japan on Matchday One, with Qatar – in the wake of their draw with Syria – two points adrift of their regional rivals.

Saudi Arabia complete their group stage fixtures on Wednesday when they face Syria, while Qatar will tackle Japan on the same day.

Park Hang-seo’s men spurned several chances against UAE with Quang Hai coming close on a number of occasions while Nguyen Tien Linh was denied by goalkeeper Mohammed Al Shamsi at the very end.

The result left Vietnam third in the standings with Jordan, who the Southeast Asians must now beat on Monday to boost their chances of advancing to the knockout stage, leading the group after opening with a 2-1 win over DPR Korea.

Goalkeeper Kang Ju-hyok kept DPR Korea in the game before Jordan took the lead with Bani Atieh converting from the penalty spot just before the break.

The West Asians extended their lead in the 74th minute with substitute Omar Hani heading home Bani Atieh's cross and then weathered a late fightback from the Koreans to seal the win to top Group D.

Before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rewired football’s statistical parameters in the 2010s, a player scoring 50 goals in a single season was usually confined to comic books and computer games, except in the case of Mario Jardel.

Perth Glory striker Nicholas D'Agostino was on hand to score either side of half-time as Australia followed up their opening day draw against Iraq with a priceless three-point haul that has moved them to the top of the Group A standings.

Mohamed Qasim rescued his side for the second game in a row as he came off the bench to score an added time equaliser to ensure the Iraqis go into their final game against Thailand on Tuesday knowing a win over the hosts will take them through to the quarter-finals.