Asian Cup: Australia v Uzbekistan, Group B – live | Australia

62 min “Sinner vs Rublev on the TV, Oztraya vs Uzbeks on the Surface Pro, Guardian MBM on the app,” writes Weaves. “Happy days.”

I’ve said it all along: two rights > one wrong.

60 min: Eshumurodov has a goal disallowed! Maty Ryan still haven’t had a save to make, but he was beaten a moment ago. The centre-back Eshmurodov planted an excellent header into the net from a left-wing free-kick; alas he went too early and was fractionally offside when the ball was delivered. It was very close though.

58 min Abdirahmatov has a shot blocked on the edge of the area. Although Uzbekistan have played some good stuff, Maty Ryan hasn’t had a save to make yet.

57 min It remains Syria 0-0 India in the other Group B game. If this stays 1-0, Syria need to win by three goals to have a chance of qualifying automatically in second place.

55 min The Socceroos look happy to sit deep and play on the break for now. Uzbekistan are in the strange position of needing a draw to guarantee qualification while also knowing a heavier defeat than 1-0 could kibosh their chances.

51 min: So close from Masharipov! It was a terrific free-kick, flashed just wide of the far post with his right foot. Ryan was on that side of the goal and may have had it covered, though I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

50 min Souttar is booked for hoofing Fayzullayev on the edge of the D. This is a chance for Uzbekistan…

46 min: Chance for Australia! McGree almost scores within 40 seconds of the restart. Irvine played a nice pass to release Bos, who rode a tackle on the edge of the area and screwed the ball back towards McGree. He opened his body to hit a first-time shot that was crucially blocked.

46 min Uzbekistan have made a half-time change: the captain Jaloliddin Masharipov, who was surprisingly omitted/not fit enough to start, is on for Oston Urunov.

Half time: Australia 1-0 Uzbekistan

45+8 min Bos’s cross is headed over by Yengi, who was jumping away from goal and did well to get it anywhere near the target. The attack started with what looked like a foul by Baccus on the edge of the Australian area, and the collective blood pressure is rising apace on the Uzbekistan bench.

45+6 min Bos shoots wide from the edge of the area. It looked good as it exploded off his left foot but swerved a long way past the far post.

45+4 min Boyle’s corner is met on the half-volley by Irvine, whose shot deflects behind for another.

45+4 min McGree beats Ashurmatov on the edge of the area with a majestic flick behind his standing leg. Hamrobekov comes across to make an important tackle and concede a corner.

45+3 min Shukurov has been booked for dissent.

45+2 min Theer will be seven minutes of added time by the way. I suppose Australia can argue Eshmurodov should have been sent off earlier in the half, that it all evens itself out, but that penalty decision is profoundly dispiriting.

GOAL! Australia 1-0 Uzbekistan (Boyle 45+1 pen)

44 min Hamrobekov is booked as well. Srecko Katanec is sarcastically applauding the officials.

44 min: Penalty given! An utter shambles. Football RIP.

43 min: VAR check for an Australia penalty! The ball touched the hand of Hamrobekov when Yengi sat him down in the area, and the referee is going to the monitor. This would be a scandalous penalty – Hamrobekov was sliding and used his arm to break his fall.

41 min: Great chance for McGree! Yengi does brilliantly on the left of the area, nutmegging one defender and sitting another down before cutting the ball back to McGree near the penalty spot. He takes the shot first time, with his reliable left foot, and somehow screws it wide of the far post! That’s a bad miss.

40 min Australia haven’t played well in this half. But they have set a new defensive record in A internationals, having now gone 613 minutes without conceding a goal.

39 min Almost a chance for Australia. Boyle again makes an excellent run infield, onto a straight through pass, but this time Eshmurodov makes a clean – and possibly goal-saving – challenge on the edge of the area.

37 min Shukurov has two shots blocked in the space of a few seconds, the second quite brilliantly by Souttar. Australia are struggling here.

36 min: Chance for Uzbekistan! Souttar’s ball is cut out near the halfway line, and suddenly Uzbekistan have a five-on-two attack. Mercifully for Australia, the lunging Souttar gets a vital touch on Ashurmatov’s pass which diverts the ball through to Ryan. Sheesh, Australia dodged one there.

34 min The score is 0-0: shots on target, goals, whatever you like. It hasn’t been great I’m afraid.

31 min Bos slaloms elegantly into the area from the left before Erkinov steps across to make a fine tackle.

30 min Adirahmatov’s cross is met by Fayzullaev, whose header 12 yards is stopped at source by Souttar. We’ve seen thousands of block-tackles throughout football history but that might be the first block-header.

30 min It’s been a stop-start half, with lots of fouls in the middle of the field. Australia still don’t look right going forward.

27 min After a VAR check, the yellow card is upheld. Eshmurodov may have got away with one there.

McGree curls the free-kick over the bar from 25 yards.

25 min Eshmurodov is booked for a cynical foul on Doyle. The Australian players want a red card, because Doyle was running onto a through pass and Eshmurodov was the lsat man. The presence of a covering defender just about saved him, but you can certainly make a case for it being a clear goalscoring opportunity.

21 min Fayzullayev runs behind the defence onto a long ball over the top, cuts inside and hits a stinging left-footed shot that is well blocked by Rowles. The Socceroos aren’t having things their own way at all.

21 min It’s still goalless in the other game between Syria and India. This is the state of play in Group B as things stand:

• Australia 7pts

• Uzbekistan 5

• Syria 2

• India 1

19 min A good cross from Sayfiyev is headed away by Rowles, I think. Uzbekistan are playing the more penetrative stuff, even if Australia are having more of the ball.

15 min The right-back Abdirahmatov plays a nice return pass to the underlapping Erkinov, whose cutback is intercepted by Rowles at the near post. Good positioning.

13 min Uzbekistan’s 5-4-1 formation looks negative, but they’re switching to a genuine 3-4-3 when they have the ball. They’ve played some decent stuff in what has been an even start to the game.

11 min: Yengi has a goal disallowed! It was a simple header into an open net from a couple of yards, but Boyle was offside in the build up. Though Boyle didn’t touch the ball, he tried to head Bos’s deflected cross and thus became active.

9 min Souttar gives the ball straight to Urunov in a dangerous area, but he recovers to make an important if slightly ungainly challenge in the penalty box. That was a decent opening for Urunov, who wasn’t as decisive as he might have been.

8 min Australia’s first good attack. McGree (I think) releases Doyle, who stands up a nice first-time cross that just evades Yengi on the six-yard line.

7 min Urunov makes a terrific run down the left, covering about 70 yards before running into a brick wall named Harold James Souttar.

4 min Sayfiyev is down in the centre circle holding his face. He was caught by a flailing arm from his teammate Ashurmatov.

2 min Uzbekistan are playing 5-4-1 formation without the ball. A draw would guarantee a place in the last 16, though they should qualify whatever happens today. It’s extremely rare that a team with four points doesn’t go through as one of the four best third-placed teams.

1 min Peep peep! The Socceroos kick off from left to right as we watch.

Uzbekistan are coached by Srecko Katanec, which is a good excuse to link to a piece from the archive that was all kinds of fun to do. The joy of that Sampdoria team was embodied by the wonderful Gianluca Vialli.

“G’day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas, which is all well and good but what we really want to know i- “Before you ask: no, I didn’t argue with any neighbours today. It’s such a shame that Mitch ‘The Duke’ Duke has a dodgy hammy. I had a whole bunch of Escape From New York puns and YouTube links planned for Australia’s deep(ly prosaic, formulaic and pseudo-catennacio) run to the final.

“Big game for Kye Rowles: at the World Cup he had some nervy moments and Souttar carried him at times. But I thought he was quietly impressive in the opening game against India, often covering for Souttar’s lack of mobility and passing the ball intelligently.

“I’d also like to see Jordy Bos operating out of left back instead of in a front three: it’s a slightly negative move and perhaps a dress rehearsal for a fixture against Japan? He never quite looks comfortable starting that high up the pitch. Might pay off in time, though…”

Yes, our man Joey Lynch has been saying this for a while too. He looks a more natural left-back to me, somebody who is more dangerous when he has space to surge into. I’m sure that’s where he’ll end up, though maybe not in this tournament. That said, he should be more dangerous as a wide forward in the knockout rounds against teams who don’t defend so deep.

Australia’s defence could smash a few records this evening. They haven’t conceded in over nine hours of football – and that excludes added time, which we really need to do something about. Can we not knock measure it?

A reminder of tonight’s teams. Just over 10 minutes to kick off now.

Team news: Yengi starts

Tonight’s game is at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, a place with some of the happiest possible memories for this generation of players and fans.

Graham Arnold’s pre-match thoughts

I can be honest and say Mitchell Duke is out with a hamstring (injury), it’ll be one game at a time for him. He had a bit of a scan and he’s got a small strain, so he’ll be out. So, it’s an opportunity for me to have a look at other players as well against good opposition, a great test. At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing and obviously we can do better in that department.

There’ll be a few changes, but I don’t think there’s much difference in the depth of our squad now, I think that if you make changes, the team will still be strong. I think the most important thing is sometimes the individual quality of backing ourselves.

We’re going out there to win the game and obviously Uzbekistan are coming along a lot as a country, they invest a lot of money in football, and they’re a good side, and we’ll be ready for them on Tuesday. It’s up to us to get out there with our mindset, our work rate and our commitment and culture that we’ve got and do a great job for all of us.

Our goal right from the start was to top the group and with high expectations, if you don’t reach for the stars, well, then you’ll never achieve anything in life. It’s a great tournament, I’m really excited about it and I’m very proud of the boys first two wins, but it’s one game at a time and making sure that we get this one right.

Preamble