Doha (Qatar), Jan 21 (AP) Despite going ahead on an early strike by Son Heung-min, South Korea needed a last-minute own-goal to secure a 2-2 draw with Jordan at the Asian Cup on Saturday.

Yazan Al-Arab's late intervention at the Al Thumama Stadium prevented a second surprise result in the space of 24 hours after Iraq defeated Japan 2-1.

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The draw leaves both South Korea, led by former United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann, and Jordan with four points from the first two games in Group E.

“It was a very, very intense game, which we expected,” Klinsmann said. “After we got the lead, we were too slow. We were not physical enough. We lost one-on-one battles on the field, and that gave them a lot of energy.”

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Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup with West Germany, was more satisfied with the second-half fightback.

“We were in control. We created enough chances to win this game,” he said. “Still, a tie is fine at the end of the day.”

South Korea, a two-time champion but searching for a first title since 1960, started well. After just five minutes, Son was fouled in the area by Ehsan Haddad. After a four-minute long VAR check, the Tottenham captain scored from the spot.

Jordan leveled after 37 minutes as Park Yong-woo headed a corner into his own net. Six minutes into first-half stoppage time, Jordan took the lead on Yazan Al-Naimat's goal.

South Korea's pressure paid off in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Son pulled the ball back in the area for Hwang In-beom and the low shot from the Red Star Belgrade midfielder was turned into his own goal by Al Arab.

Also in Group E on Saturday, Bahrain beat Malaysia 1-0 to go third with three points. Ali Madan scored the only goal of the game in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to leave Malaysia pointless.

The top two from each of the six groups advance to the round of 16, where they are joined by the four best-performing third-place teams. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)