Itakura concedes crucial late penalty that sees Japan eliminated from AFC Cup

Despite being the less active team offensively in the first-half, Japan took the lead via a Hidemasa Morita goal in the 21st minute. Amir Ghalenoei’s Persians were unable to officially respond until ten minutes after the restart. Azmoun and the rest of the team missed many chances to equalize. Finally, Mohammed Mohebi put away a fine Azmoun through-ball for the 1-1 in the 55th. Azmoun saw a goal disallowed shortly thereafter due to offside. Mohebi narrowly missed two more chances at the lead after that. Japan remained back on their heels and rarely advanced past the halfway line.

The Iranian assault proved relentless. Another goal nevertheless did not come. Chances dwindled as the match entered into second-half injury time. Extra time seemed inevitable until Itakura’s foul at 90+5. Iranian skipper Alireza Jahanbakhsh put away the 2-1 from the spot at 90+6. Itakura, Ito, and (for all intents and purposes) Doan went the full 90 minutes. Doan was pulled for Bochum’s Takuma Asano at 90+8. The trio that went the distance proved woefully ineffective on this day, producing practically nothing of note during what was an overall poor match for their team.