Hosts UAE kept alive their hopes of a place in the knockout stage of the AFC U-19 Championship 2012 on Monday after Yousif Saeed struck seven minutes from time to earn a 1-1 draw with Iran.
Alireza Jahan Bakhsh's 70th minute goal put the Iranians on course for a second successive win which would have seen them through to the quarter-finals but Saeed had other ideas and his 83rd minute header ensured that the spoils were shared at the Emirates Club Stadium in Ras Al Khaimah.
UAE's second 1-1 draw, following their tie with Kuwait, put them third in the Group A standings with two points, two less than leaders Iran and one less then second-place Japan, who the UAE will face in a must-win match on Wednesday.
Earlier, Japanese defender Takuya Iwanami struck a superb free-kick in first half stoppage-time as Japan reignited their campaign with a 1-0 defeat of Kuwait on Monday.
After suffering defeat at the hands of Iran in their opening match the Japanese were in danger of early elimination but Iwanami's timely strike ensured all three points.
In Fujairah, 11-time champions Korea and Iraq came from behind to beat their rivals 2-1 in Group B fixtures at the Fujairah Stadium.
Kim Hyun's missed penalty did not prove costly for Korea against Thailand.
They recovered from the early setback to take a 23rd minute lead through Heo Yong-joon and although Thitiphan Puangjan levelled for the Thais in the second-half, Kim Seung-jun was on hand to seal victory for the Koreans after a defensive howler from the South East Asian side.
Muhanad Abdulraheem scored a goal in each half as Iraq increased their chances of a place in the quarter-finals by defeating China 2-1.
The victory took Iraq's points tally to four following their opening draw with Korea Republic while China remain without a point having lost 2-1 to Thailand in their first match.
Wu Xinghan put China 1-0 up with 39 minutes of the first-half.
Abdulraheem pulled Iraq level four minutes later before netting what turned out to be the winner in the 62nd minute.