Oman

Goals in each half from Mohamed Kanno and Faisal Al-Ghamdi at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, put the three-time champions in first place in Group F.

The Saudis have six points from two games and are two points ahead of Thailand, who earlier drew 0-0 with Oman. Third-place Oman have one point and Kyrgyzstan are pointless.

The task for Saudi Arabia was made much easier by Kyrgyzstan, who were making only their second appearance in the tournament, having a player sent off early in each half.

First to go was Aizar Akmatov for a rash challenge on Sami Al-Naji after just eight minutes.

Kanno broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the break, volleying home Saud Abdulhamid's cross at the far post.

Seven minutes into the second half, Kimi Merk was also shown a red for a dangerous tackle.

It resulted in almost constant pressure from Saudi Arabia and, with six minutes remaining, Al-Ghamdi’s long-range shot took a deflection and went through the hands of the otherwise impressive Erzhan Tokotaev in goal.

"It is difficult to play against Saudi Arabia with 11 players but with nine it is too difficult," Tajikistan captain Tamirlan Kozubaev said. "We did our best."

Earlier, Thailand moved closer to securing a spot in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup after drawing 0-0 with Oman on Sunday.

There was little attacking action of note at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha with a close-range header from Elias Dolah of Thailand in the 15th minute almost crossing the line before it was cleared.

Oman, who lost their opening game against Saudi Arabia, struggled to break through the committed Thailand defence. Issam Al-Sabhi came closest with a shot that was saved late in the game.

"We are so happy to get one point and everybody worked hard for each other," Thailand defender Pansa Hemviboom said. "We communicated well as a team to get this result."

Oman, with just a point from their opening two games, need a win in their final group match against Kyrgyzstan to keep alive hopes of a place in the knockout stage.

The top two teams from each of the six groups advance, along with the four best runners-up.

The Hibernian forward got down to head in the crucial second goal for the Socceroos at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, and he has now been directly involved in eight goals in his last eight internationals, scoring five times and providing three assists.

Australia snatched a ninth-minute lead when Awer Bul Mabil lashed home a left-footed strike.

Graham Arnold's side were then indebted to goalkeeper Mat Ryan who kept them ahead with two fine saves, but he was beaten in the 28th minute as Al Mandhar Al Alawi pulled Oman level, sidestepping Harry Souttar and thrashing a shot high into the right corner.

Australia regained the lead in the 49th minute when Adam Taggart's shot was only parried as far as Boyle, who was deadly from close range.

The hard-earned success was sealed when Mitchell Duke side-footed into the left corner late on.

It means Australia have three wins from three in the third round of Asian World Cup qualifying, having won eight from eight in the second round, the stage at which they began their campaign.

They become the first team to have won 11 games in a single World Cup qualifying campaign.

Australia have won 12 consecutive qualifiers in all, including the 3-1 play-off win over Honduras that took them to the 2018 World Cup.