Iran win marred by crowd trouble as Japan get back on track

Japan players celebrate their goal against Bahrain. Iran overpowered North Korea 2-0 in Pyongyang triggering an angry reaction from home fans while Japan were gifted a 1-0 win over Bahrain thanks to an own goal in their Asian World Cup qualifier.

Iran overpowered North Korea 2-0 in Pyongyang triggering an angry reaction from home fans while Japan were gifted a 1-0 win over Bahrain thanks to an own goal in their Asian World Cup qualifier.

Japan's victory got their bid to qualify for next year's World Cup finals in Germany back on track after their away loss in Tehran last week, moving two points ahead of Bahrain and one point behind Group B leaders Iran.

In Group A, South Korea shrugged off their disappointing 2-0 defeat in Saudi Arabia last week, beating Uzbekistan 2-1 at home. Group leaders Saudi Arabia play Kuwait in Kuwait City later Wednesday.

Football's governing body FIFA will not have been pleased by events off the pitch in Pyongyang.

A mob of thousands gathered outside the Kim Il-Sung stadium after the match and stopped the Iranian players from leaving as hundreds of policemen were deployed inside and outside the ground in an effort to restore order.

The trouble began after the North Korean players inflamed the crowd in the dying minutes when they converged on Syrian referee Mohammed Kousa, shoving him and screaming, after he rejected a penalty appeal for hand-ball.

The match was held up for more than five minutes as Kousa retreated from the pack and bottles from the crowd were thrown onto the athletics track surrounding the pitch.

Match officials went onto the pitch to help Kousa, who finally restored order and sent off North Korean defender Nam Song-Chol.

At the end of the match the Iranians remained on the field for about 10 minutes before sprinting off the pitch under a barrage of objects. Kousa and his two assistants were also targeted.

A man whips up the fans ahead of North Korea's match against Iran. Iran overpowered North Korea 2-0 in Pyongyang triggering an angry reaction from home fans while Japan were gifted a 1-0 win over Bahrain thanks to an own goal in their Asian World Cup qualifier.

The off-pitch action took the shine off Iran's potent display of attacking football which resulted in goals from Mehdi Mahdavikia and Javad Neokonam in the 34th and 79th minutes respectively.

At Saitama stadium north of Tokyo, Japan and Bahrain struggled to find any attacking momentum early on, but the home side, desperately needing a victory to keep their qualification chances alive, came out firing in the second half.

Their pressure reaped rewards when Bahrain midfielder Mohamed Salmeen's clearance in the 72nd minute found his own net during a goalmouth scramble from a Shunsuke Nakamura freekick, gifting the hosts a valuable three points.

"Although it was an own goal, it was an excellent goal, because if we hadn't put pressure on them it would have never happened. It was a result of my players trying to score a goal," said Japan's Brazilian coach Zico.

At the World Cup stadium in Seoul, midfielder Lee Young-Pyo, who plays for PSV Eindhoven, opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with his fifth goal for South Korea from a close range shot.

Lee Dong-Gook slotted home the second on 61 minutes to keep the South Koreans in sight of their sixth consecutive qualification for a World Cup finals in Germany in 2006.

But South Korea allowed Uzbekistan back into the game after 77 minutes when Alexander Geynrikh, the star striker from CSKA Moscow, pulled one back after a defensive error.

"It always was a little bit scary, this game," said South Korea's Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere who desperately needed a win to answer growing criticism of his coaching style in the Korean media.

"We were too rusty, too hurried to score a third or fourth goal."