The World Cup in Qatar saw its first red card and first bout of late late drama as Iran scored stoppage time goals through Roozbech Chesmi and Ramin Rezaeian to sink a miserable Wales side in Group B.
Wales were poor and somehow survived until the 90 minute mark, after Iran had a goal disallowed early on and saw two efforts cannon off the woodwork in the second half. But after Wayne Hennessey was sent off for clattering into Iran striker Mehdi Taremi late in the game, the Welsh defence crumbled to a 2-0 defeat, which consigns them to bottom of the group
As for Iran, Carlos Queiroz will have been delighted with his side’s resurgent performance after being beaten 6-2 by England in their opening group contest. See how the action unfolded below with Standard Sport’s live blog, featuring expert analysis from Malik Ouzia at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Roozbeh Cheshmi’s stunning goal in the eighth minute of added time broke Wales’ resistance after goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey had been shown a straight red card for racing off his line and fouling Mehdi Taremi in the 84th minute.
Iran then added their second with practically the last kick of the game when Ramin Rezaeian finished off another rapid counter-attack with a cool finish over substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward.
Wales were seeking a victory in order to boost their hopes of reaching the knockout stages having come from behind to draw 1-1 with USA in their opening game, but they struggled to break Iran down, with Gareth Bale, becoming their most-capped player on his 110th appearance, unable to inspire any more heroics.
How Iran broke Welsh hearts
Much of the focus was on off-field matters ahead of kick-off, with fans encountering more ticketing problems as they attempted to enter the stadium and Iran’s national anthem met with loud jeers inside the ground.
Carlos Queiroz’s players had refused to sing the anthem ahead of their game against England as an act of solidarity with those protesting for women’s rights in the country, but on this occasion they did, even as those in the stands voiced their anger.
Page attempted to give Wales fresh impetus with a raft of substitutions, including the introduction of the fit-again Joe Allen, but Iran continued to look more likely, with Saeid Ezatolahi forcing a sprawling save from Hennessey with a long-range effort.
Ben Davies went close with one of few Wales chances soon after that, his powerful effort from Moore’s lay-off tipped over by Hosseini, but Hennessey’s red card came just seconds later.
The 35-year-old was initially only shown a yellow card, but the booking was rightly upgraded to a red following a VAR check, the man advantage allowing Iran to ramp up the pressure in the closing stages.
It looked like Wales would hold out for a point, but substitute Cheshmi’s sensational strike, fired into the bottom corner from 25 yards out, broke their hearts before Rezaeian’s second rubbed salt into their wounds.
