Iran 1-0 UAE - full report below

Stand-in skipper Karim Bagheri scored on the stroke of half-time to give Iran a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates here on Thursday in the first leg of the Asian zone World Cup play-off.
Despite dominating the match from start to finish, Iran may well be left to regret a host of missed chances when they travel to Abu Dhabi on October 31 for the return leg.
The winners of the Asian play-off will go on to face the Republic of Ireland over two legs for a place in the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea next summer.
Iran had been forced into the play-offs after losing their final Group A game 3-1 in Bahrain last week while rivals Saudi Arabia clinched their place in the finals by defeating Thailand 4-1.
Bagheri, leading the team in the absence of the suspended Ali Daei on Thursday, struck just before the interval to score the only goal of the game.
A corner from Ali Karimi was punched away by Mutaz Abdulla in the UAE goal, but the ball fell invitingly to Bagheri who slotted it home from the edge of the box.
But Iran should have wrapped up this match comfortably in front of 50,000 fans in the Azadi Stadium.
In the first half alone, the impressive Ali Karimi had a dozen raids on the UAE goal with Abdulla pulling off a string of fine saves. Karimi then watched in agony when, for once, he beat Abdulla only to see his shot come off the post.
Iran coach Miroslav Blazevic, who was sent off with two of his players in the match with Bahrain, showed his disgust from the touchline as his players squandered more chances after the break.
The UAE were happy to soak up the pressure, but had two opportunities in the second half to pile on more misery for Iran.
First, Fahed Masoud saw a 67th-minute free-kick saved and then Yasser Salem came close three minutes from the end.
The return match in Abu Dhabi takes place on October 31 while the two matches against the Republic of Ireland are scheduled for November 10 in Dublin with the return in either the UAE or Iran on November 15.
Iran will take a slender one goal lead to Abu Dhabi for next week's Asian play-off second leg, giving Mick McCarthy every reason to be optimistic about Ireland's potential opponents in the November 10/15 showdown.

Miroslav Blazevic's will know that his team had more than enough chances to win the game by three or four. – with Ali Karimi the main culprit.

Karimi tore the UAE apart from the kick-off and set up Iran’s first chance midway through the first half when he played Mujahed Khaziravi into the right spot to let fly with a 20 yard shot which flew inches over UAE ‘keeper Mutaz Abdulla's crossbar.

In the 25th minute, Karimi again supplied a pass for Pehzman Jamshidi to send a shot against the cross bar.

At the other end Fahd Khalil's shot from the edge of the box was the UAE’s first goal scoring attempt but it flew over the cross bar.

Iranian fans could not believe their eyes in the 27th minute when Hamed Kavianpour miss-hit a shot with the goal at his mercy and two minutes later, Karimi did all the hard work beating three defenders but shot straight at Abdulla.

The UAE netminder had a busy day saving well from Khazaravi in the 31st minute before Karimi hit the crossbar again.

The breakthrough finally came on the strike of half-time. A corner from Minavand's on the right was punched clear by Abdulla but only as far as Bagheri, who chested the ball down before hitting a bobbling shot home to the goalkeeper's right.

Karimi missed further chances after the break while Kavianpour also went close with a volley that bounced just wide.
 

Although Karimi was the undoubted star of the game, particularly in the first half, his clear cut chances misses and the failure to spot teammates in a better scoring position, raised many question marks about his overall value as a team player. He had very little difficulty in disposing of his markers and dribbling round two, three and four players! His final shoot , however, left a lot to be desired.

Blazevic, on the other hand, continued his tradition of not substituting the players unless forced to like the late injuries to Bagheri and Jamshidi. It is not known the extent of the injury to the twop players, however Bagheri seemed to be the more serious of the two. Ali Samereh, the stand-in striker for Daei, who was suspended for today's match made a last minute appearance.

The UAE team have a good chance of overhauling the slender 1-0 Iranian lead in Abu Dhabi, although they did not show too much prowess in front of the Iranian goal. The rare times that they ventured forward for attack, they were met by a solid defense marshaled by Golmohamady and the towering Mirzapour, who seemed to regain his confidence after the debacle of Bahrain.

UAE  players, unlike Bahrain, played a sporting game and there was no attempt to waste time or fake injuries. They gallantly defended their goal and Moataz, the goalkeeper, displayed some remarkable reflexes on couple of occasion to deny the Iranians. He was also too critical of his defenders who failed to control Ali Karimi on many occasions.

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