TEHRAN – Iran football team defeated the UAE 1-0 to stay atop of Group A in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.

On Tuesday, the ‘Persian Leopards’, who have already qualified for the Qatar World Cup, earned a home win in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium behind the closed doors.

With one minute left until halftime, Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh sent in a perfect cross to the area and Ali Gholizadeh hit the bar with a header. Left-footed Mehdi Taremi took advantage of the rebound, putting the home side ahead.

Four minutes into the second half, Iran were reduced to 10 men after Sadegh Moharrami was shown his second yellow card by Omani referee Ahmed Al-Kaf.

It was Dragan Skocic’s 14th win out of 15 matches as Iran coach.

Iran remained top of the group with 22 points, two points ahead of Korea Republic, who defeated Syria 2-0 earlier in the day.